MR. ADAMS' NOMINATION TO THE PRESIDENCY--SPIRITED PRESIDENTIAL
CAMPAIGN--NO CHOICE BY THE PEOPLE--ELECTION GOES TO THE HOUSE OF
REPRESENTATIVES--MR. ADAMS ELECTED PRESIDENT--HIS INAUGURATION--
FORMS HIS CABINET.
James Monroe was the last of the illustrious line of Presidents whose
claims to that eminent station dated back to the revolution. A grateful
people had conferred the highest honors in their gift upon the most
conspicuous of those patriots who had faithfully served them in that
perilous struggle, and aided in constructing and consolidating the union
of these States. This debt punctually and honorably discharged, they
looked to another generation, possessing claims of a different
description, for servants to elevate to the dignity of the presidential
chair.
In the midst of a large class of public men who had in the mean time
become conspicuous for talents and services of various descriptions, it is
no matter of surprise that the people of the United States should
entertain a diversity of opinions in regard to the most suitable
individual to fill a station which had hitherto been occupied by men whose
virtues and whose patriotism had shed the brightest lustre on the
American name and character throughout the world. Candidates for the
presidency were nominated in various sections of the Union. The eastern
States turned their eyes instinctively towards JOHN QUINCY ADAMS, as one,
among all the eminent competitors, the most fitted, by character and
services, for the office of President of the United States. The members of
the Legislature of Maine resolved--
"That the splendid talents and incorruptible integrity of JOHN QUINCY
ADAMS, his republican habits and principles, distinguished public
services, and extensive knowledge of, and devoted attachment to, the vital
interests of the country, justly entitle him to the first honors in the
gift of an enlightened and grateful people."
The republican members of the Massachusetts Legislature adopted the
following resolutions:--
"Resolved, That the ability, experience, integrity and patriotism of JOHN
QUINCY ADAMS; his manly efforts to defend the principles of that
government under which, in God's providence, we hope to die; his unshaken
fortitude and resolution in all political exigencies; his long, faithful,
and valuable services, under the patronage of all the Presidents of the
United States, present him to the people of this nation, as a man
eminently qualified to subserve the best interests of his country, and as
a statesman without reproach.
"Resolved, That a man who has given such continued and indubitable pledges
of his patriotism and capacity, may be safely placed at the head of this
nation. Every impulse of his heart, and every dictate of his mind, must
unite promptly in the support of the interests, the honor, and the liberty
of his country.
"Resolved, That JOHN QUINCY ADAMS is hereby recommended by us to the
people of the United States, as the most suitable candidate for the office
of President, at the approaching election."
A meeting of the citizens of Rhode Island passed the following among other
resolutions:--
"Resolved, That, although we duly acknowledge the talents and public
services of all the candidates for the presidency, we have the fullest
confidence in the acknowledged ability, integrity and experience of JOHN
QUINCY ADAMS, the accomplished scholar, the true republican, the
enlightened statesman, and the honest man; and we are desirous that his
merits should be rewarded with the first office in the gift of the people
of the United States--that his future services may continue unto us those
blessings which, under the present administration of the General
Government, we have so abundantly enjoyed."
These were high encomiums. But who among the American people, now that the
patriot has departed from earth, can survey his life, his character, and
his services, and not acknowledge they were justly and richly deserved?
Similar resolutions were passed in all the eastern and many of the
northern States.
The west brought forward HENRY CLAY, one of the most popular orators and
eminent statesman of the day. GEN. JACKSON, who had earned a splendid
military reputation, was nominated in the southwest, and WM. H. CRAWFORD
was selected as the candidate representing the southern portion of the
confederacy. These were all men of eminence and of acknowledged talents.
They were worthy competitors for the highest honors of the Republic.
The friends of Mr. Adams rested his claims for the presidency on no
factitious qualities. They urged that his characteristics were such as to
commend him to the confidence of every true republican and well-wisher of
his country. While his attainments were not of the showy and popular cast
possessed by many public men, they yet were of that solid, practical and
valuable description which must ever receive the sanction of intelligent
and reflecting minds.
The qualifications on which his supporters depended, and to which they
called the attention of the American people, as reasons for elevating him
to the head of the General Government, may be summarily enumerated as
follows:--1. The purity of his private character--the simplicity of his
personal habits--his unbending integrity and uprightness, even beyond
suspicion. 2. His commanding talents, and his acquirements both as a
scholar and a statesman. 3. His love of country--his truly American
feelings, in all that concerned the welfare and honor of the United
States. 4. His long experience in public affairs, especially his
familiarity with our foreign relations, and his perfect knowledge of the
institutions, the internal condition and policy of European nations. 5.
His advocacy of protection to domestic manufactures, and of a judicious
system of internal improvements.
In regard to internal improvements by the General Government, there was a
difference of opinion between Mr. Adams and President Monroe. The latter
was strongly impressed with the beneficial tendency of a well-digested
system of internal improvements; but he believed the constitution
conferred no power on Congress to make appropriations for such a purpose.
It was in this view of the subject that he vetoed a bill which assumed the
right to adopt and execute such a system, passed by Congress during the
session of 1820-21. But anxious that internal improvements, confined to
great national purposes, and with proper limitations, should be
prosecuted, he suggested that an amendment of the constitution to that
effect should be recommended to the several States.
Mr. Adams, however, had no doubts that Congress already possessed a
constitutional power to prosecute such internal improvements as were of a
national character, and calculated to benefit the Union, and to levy
duties for the protection of domestic manufactures. During his entire
political career he had deemed these to be two great points toward which
the American Government and people should turn their especial attention;
and he ever gave them his faithful advocacy and support. With consummate
wisdom, he foresaw that the more completely our internal resources were
developed, and the less dependent we were on foreign powers, the greater
would be our public and private prosperity. He insisted that by an
adequate protection of domestic manufactures, there would be an increased
demand for our raw materials at home, and thus the several productive and
manufacturing sections of the Republic would realize the benefits of a
dependence on each other, and the Union would be consolidated and
perpetuated for ages to come.
While a candidate for the presidency, Mr. Adams received a letter
inquiring his views on the subject of internal improvement. The following
is an extract from his reply:--
"On the 23rd of Feb., 1807, I offered, in the Senate of the United States,
of which I was then a member, the first resolution, as I believe, that
ever was presented to Congress, contemplating a general system of internal
improvement. I thought that Congress possessed the power of appropriating
money to such improvement, and of authorizing the works necessary for
making it--subject always to the territorial rights of the several States
in or through which the improvement is to be made, to be secured by the
consent of their Legislatures, and to proprietary rights of individuals,
to be purchased or indemnified. I still hold the same opinions; and,
although highly respecting the purity of intention of those who object, on
constitutional grounds, to the exercise of this power, it is with
heartfelt satisfaction that I perceive those objections gradually yielding
to the paramount influence of the general welfare. Already have
appropriations of money to great objects of internal improvement been
freely made; and I hope we shall both live to see the day, when the only
question of our statesmen and patriots, concerning the authority of
Congress to improve, by public works essentially beneficent, and beyond
the means of less than national resources, the condition of our common
country, will be how it ever could have been doubted."
On another occasion, Mr. Adams expressed himself on the subject of
internal improvements in the following manner:--
"The question of the power of Congress to authorize the making of internal
improvements, is, in other words, a question whether the people of this
Union, in forming their common social compact, as avowedly for the purpose
of promoting their general welfare, have performed their work in a manner
so ineffably stupid as to deny themselves the means of bettering their own
condition. I have too much respect for the intellect of my country to
believe it. The first object of human association is the improvement of
the condition of the associated. Roads and canals are among the most
essential means of improving the condition of nations. And a people which
should deliberately, by the organization of its authorized power, deprive
itself of the faculty of multiplying its own blessings, would be as wise
as a creator who should undertake to constitute a human being without a
heart."
In addition to other claims, the friends of Mr. Adams urged his elevation
to the presidency on the ground of locality. During the thirty-six years
which had passed since the adoption of the constitution, the General
Government had been administered but four years by a northern President.
It was insisted with much force that the southern portion of the Republic
had thus far exerted a disproportionate influence in the executive
department of the nation. While the north, although far the most populous,
and contributing much the largest portion of the means for defraying the
national expenditures, would not claim to monopolize an undue degree of
power in controlling the measures of administration, yet it could justly
insist that its demands for an equitable share of influence should be
heeded. These suggestions unquestionably possessed a weight in the minds
of the people, favorable to the prospects of Mr. Adams.
The Presidential campaign of 1824, was more spirited and exciting than any
that had taken place since the first election of Mr. Jefferson. It was
novel in the number of candidates presented for the suffrages of the
people, and was conducted with great zeal and vigor by the friends of the
different aspirants. Strictly speaking, it could not be called a party
contest. Mr. Monroe's wise and prudent administration had obliterated
party lines, and left a very general unanimity of sentiment on political
principles and measures, throughout the Union. The various candidates--
Adams, Jackson, Clay, Crawford--all subscribed, substantially, to the same
political creed, and entertained similar views as to the principles on
which the General Government should be administered. The struggle was a
personal and sectional one, more than of a party nature.
It had long been foreseen that a choice of President would not be effected
by the people. The result verified this prediction. Of two hundred and
sixty-one electoral votes, Gen. Jackson received ninety-nine, Mr. Adams
eighty-four, Mr. Crawford forty-one, and Mr. Clay thirty-seven. Neither of
the candidates having received a majority in the electoral colleges, the
election devolved on the House of Representatives. This took place on the
9th of Feb., 1825.
On the morning of that day, the House met at an earlier hour than usual.
The galleries, the lobbies, and the adjacent apartments, were filled to
overflowing--with spectators from every part of the Union to witness the
momentous event. It was a scene the most sublime that could be witnessed
on earth. The Representatives of the People, in the exercise of the
highest right of freemen, were about to select a citizen to administer the
Government of a great Republic.
All the members of the House were present, with the exception of one, who
was confined by indisposition. The Speaker (Henry Clay) took his chair,
and the ordinary business of the morning was attended to in the usual
manner. At 12 o'clock, precisely, the members of the Senate entered the
hall, preceded by their Sergeant-at-arms, and having the President of the
Senate at their head, who was invited to a seat on the right hand of the
Speaker. The Senators were assigned seats in front of the Speaker's chair.
The President of the Senate (Mr. Gaillard) then rose, and stated that the
certificates forwarded by the electors from each State would be delivered
to the Tellers. Mr. Tazewell of the Senate, and Messrs. John W. Taylor
and Philip P. Barbour on the part of the House, took their places, as
Tellers, at the Clerk's table. The President of the Senate then opened two
packets, one received by messenger and the other by mail, containing the
certificates of the votes of the State of New Hampshire. One of these
certificates was then read by Mr. Tazewell, while the other was compared
with it by Messrs. Taylor and Barbour. The whole having been read, and
the votes of New Hampshire declared, they were set down by the Clerks of
the Senate and of the House of Representatives, seated at different
tables. Thus the certificates from all the States were gone through with.
At the conclusion, the Tellers left the Clerk's tables, and, presenting
themselves in front of the Speaker, Mr. Tazewell delivered their report
of the votes given.
The President of the Senate then rose, and declared that no person had
received a majority of the votes given for President of the United States:
that Andrew Jackson, John Quincy Adams, and William H. Crawford, were the
three persons who had received the highest number of votes; and that the
remaining duties in the choice of a President now devolved on the House of
Representatives. He further declared, that John C. Calhoun of South
Carolina, having received 182 votes, was duly elected Vice President of
the United States, to serve four years from the 4th of March next. The
members of the Senate then retired.
The Speaker directed the roll of the House to be called by States, and the
members of the respective delegations to take their seats in the order in
which the States should be called, beginning at the right hand of the
Speaker. The delegations took their seats accordingly. Ballot-boxes were
distributed to each delegation, by the Sergeant-at-arms, and the Speaker
directed that the balloting should, proceed. The ballots having all been
deposited in the boxes, Tellers were named by the respective delegations,
being one from each State, who took their seats at two tables.
Mr. Webster of Massachusetts was appointed by those Tellers who sat at one
table, and Mr. Randolph of Virginia by those at the other, to announce the
result. After the ballots were counted out, Mr. Webster rose, and said:--
"Mr. Speaker: The Tellers of the votes at this table have proceeded to
count the ballots contained in the boxes set before them. The result they
find to be, that there are for John Quincy Adams, of Massachusetts,
thirteen votes; for Andrew Jackson, of Tennessee, seven votes; for William
H. Crawford, of Georgia, four votes."
Mr. Randolph, from the other table, made a statement corresponding with
that of Mr. Webster.
The Speaker then stated this result to the House, and announced that JOHN
QUINCY ADAMS, having a majority of the votes of these United States, was
duly elected President of the same, for four years, commencing on the 4th
day of March, 1825.
A committee was appointed to wait upon Mr. Adams, and announce to him the
result of the election, of which Mr. Webster was chairman. On performing
this duty, they received from Mr. Adams the following reply:--
GENTLEMEN:--In receiving this testimonial from the Representatives of the
People and States of this Union, I am deeply sensible of the circumstances
under which it has been given. All my predecessors have been honored with
majorities of the electoral voices, in the primary colleges. It has been
my fortune to be placed, by the divisions of sentiment prevailing among
our countrymen on this occasion, in competition, friendly and honorable,
with three of my fellow-citizens, all justly enjoying, in eminent degrees,
the public favor; and of whose worth, talents and services no one
entertains a higher and more respectful sense than myself. The names of
two of them were, in the fulfilment of the provisions of the
constitution, presented to the selection of the House of Representatives
in concurrence with my own,--names closely associated with the glory of
the nation, and one of them farther recommended by a larger majority of
the primary electoral suffrages than mine.
In this state of things, could my refusal to accept the trust thus
delegated to me give an opportunity to the people to form, and to express,
with a nearer approach to unanimity, the object of their preference, I
should not hesitate to decline the acceptance of this eminent charge, and
to submit the decision of this momentous question again to their
determination. But the constitution itself has not so disposed of the
contingency which would arise in the event of my refusal. I shall,
therefore, repair to the post assigned me by the call of my country,
signified through her constitutional organs; oppressed with the magnitude
of the task before me, but cheered with the hope of that generous support
from my fellow-citizens, which, in the vicissitudes of a life devoted to
their service, has never failed to sustain me--confident in the trust,
that the wisdom of the legislative councils will guide and direct me in
the path of my official duty; and relying, above all, upon the
superintending providence of that Being "in whose hands our breath is, and
whose are all our ways."
"Gentlemen, I pray you to make acceptable to the House, the assurance of
my profound gratitude for their confidence, and to accept yourselves my
thanks for the friendly terms in which you have communicated to me their
decision."
The diffidence manifested by Mr. Adams in accepting the office of
President, under the peculiar circumstances of his election, and his wish,
if it were possible, to submit his claims again to the people, were
unquestionably uttered with great sincerity of heart. He was the choice of
but a minority, as expressed in the electoral vote; and in accordance with
his republican principles and feelings, he would have preferred another
expression of public opinion. But the constitution made no provision for
such an arbitrament. He must either serve or resign. In the latter case,
the Vice President would have discharged the duties of President during
the term. Mr. Adams had no alternative, therefore, but to accept the
office, agreeably to the terms of the constitution. Had either of his
competitors been elected by the House of Representatives, they would have
been, as he was, a minority President. Notwithstanding Gen. Jackson
received fifteen more electoral votes than Mr. Adams, yet it is believed
that in the primary assemblies the latter obtained a greater number of the
actual votes of the people than the former.
"Although Gen. Jackson had a plurality in the nominal returns from the
electoral colleges, the question is, whether he had a plurality in the
popular votes of the States. In North Carolina, the Crawford men had a
great plurality over either of the Jackson and Adams sections; but the two
latter joining their forces, gave the electoral vote of the State, it
being fifteen, to Gen. Jackson. Deduct this from Gen. Jackson's
plurality--as it should be, if the principle of plurality is to
govern--and it leaves him eighty-four, the same as the vote of Mr. Adams.
But Mr. Adams had a great plurality of the popular vote of New York, and
on this principle should be credited the entire thirty-six votes of that
State, whereas, he received only twenty-six. This adjustment would carry
Mr. Adams up to ninety-four, and leave Gen. Jackson with eighty-four.
Besides, the popular majorities for Mr. Adams in the six New England
States were greatly in excess of the Jackson majorities in the eight
States which gave their vote for him; which largely augments Mr. Adams'
aggregate plurality in the Union over Gen. Jackson's. Then deduct the
constitutional allowance for the slave vote in the slave States, as given
by their masters. It will not be pretended that this is a popular vote,
though constitutional. Gen. Jackson obtained fifty-five electoral votes,
more than half his entire vote, and Mr. Adams only six from slave States.
It will therefore be seen, that on the principle of a popular plurality,
carried out, and carried through, (it ought not to stop for the advantage
of one party,) Mr. Adams, in the election of 1824, was FAR AHEAD of Gen.
Jackson." [Footnote: Colton's Life and Times of Henry Clay.]
On the 4th of March, 1825, John Quincy Adams was inaugurated as President
of the United States, and took the executive chair, which had been entered
twenty-eight years before by his venerated father. The declaration of that
father in reference to the son, when a lad--"He behaves like a man!"--had
gathered strength and meaning in the lapse of years. The people of the
American republic, taught by a long series of faithful and eminent
services, in the fulfilment of the prophetic words, placed him in a
position the most elevated and honorable, the most worthy the aim of a
pure and patriotic ambition, that earth can afford!
The scene at the inauguration was splendid and imposing. At an early hour
of the day the avenues leading to the capitol presented an animated
spectacle. Crowds of citizens on foot, in carriages, and on horseback,
were hastening to the great centre of attraction. Strains of martial
music, and the movements of the various military corps, heightened the
excitement.
At 12 o'clock, the military escort, consisting of general and staff
officers, and several volunteer companies, received the President elect at
his residence, together with President Monroe, and several officers of
government. The procession, led by the cavalry, and accompanied by an
immense concourse of citizens, proceeded to the capitol, where it was
received, with military honors, by the U. S. Marine Corps under Col.
Henderson.
Meanwhile the hall of the House of Representatives presented a brilliant
spectacle. The galleries and the lobbies were crowded with spectators. The
sofas between the columns, the bar, the promenade in the rear of the
Speaker's chair, and the three outer rows of the members' seats, were
occupied by a splendid array of beauty and fashion. On the left, the
Diplomatic Corps, in the costume of their respective Courts, occupied the
place assigned them, immediately before the steps which lead to the chair.
The officers of the army and navy were scattered in groups throughout the
hall. In front of the Clerk's table chairs were placed for the Judges of
the Supreme Court.
At twenty minutes past 12 o'clock, the marshals, in blue scarfs, made
their appearance in the hall, at the head of the august procession. First
came the officers of both Houses of Congress. Then appeared the President
elect, followed by the venerable ex-president Monroe, with his family. To
these succeeded the Judges of the Supreme Court, in their robes of office,
the members of the Senate, preceded by the Vice-President, with a number
of the members of the House of Representatives.
Mr. Adams, in a plain suit of black, made entirely of American
manufactures, ascended to the Speaker's chair, and took his seat. The
Chief Justice was placed in front of the Clerk's table, having before him
another table on the floor of the hall, on the opposite side of which sat
the remaining Judges, with their faces towards the chair. The doors having
been closed, and silence proclaimed, Mr. Adams arose, and, in a distinct
and firm tone of voice, read his inaugural address.
At the conclusion of the address, a general plaudit burst forth from the
vast assemblage, which continued some minutes. Mr. Adams then descended
from the chair, and, proceeding to the Judges' table, received from the
Chief Justice a volume of the Laws of the United States, from which he
read, with a loud voice, the oath of office. The plaudits and cheers of
the multitude were at this juncture repeated, accompanied by salutes of
artillery from without.
The congratulations which then poured in from every side occupied the
hands, and could not but reach the heart, of President Adams. The meeting
between him and his venerated predecessor, had in it something peculiarly
affecting. General Jackson was among the earliest of those who took the
hand of the President; and their looks and deportment towards each other
were a rebuke to that littleness of party spirit which can see no merit
in a rival, and feel no joy in the honor of a competitor.
Shortly after 1 o'clock, the procession commenced leaving the hall. The
President was escorted back as he came. On his arrival at his residence,
he received the compliments and respects of a great number of ladies and
gentlemen, who called on him to tender their congratulations. The
proceedings of the day were closed by an "inaugural ball" in the evening.
Among the guests present, were the President and Vice-President.
Ex-President Monroe, a number of foreign ministers, with many civil,
military, and naval officers.[Footnote: National Intelligencer.]
Mr. Adams's Inaugural Address is as follows:--
"In compliance with an usage coeval with the existence of our federal
constitution, and sanctioned by the example of my predecessors in the
career upon which I am about to enter, I appear, my fellow-citizens, in
your presence, and in that of heaven, to bind myself, by the solemnities
of a religious obligation, to the faithful performance of the duties
allotted to me, in the station to which I have been called.
"In unfolding to my countrymen the principles by which I shall be
governed, in the fulfilment of those duties, my first resort will be to
that constitution which I shall swear, to the best of my ability, to
preserve, protect, and defend. That revered instrument enumerates the
powers and prescribes the duties of the Executive Magistrate, and in its
first words, declares the purposes to which these, and the whole action of
the Government instituted by it, should be invariably and sacredly
devoted--to form a more perfect union, establish justice, ensure domestic
tranquillity, provide for the common defence, promote the general
welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to the people of this Union,
in their successive generations. Since the adoption of this social
compact, one of these generations has passed away. It is the work of our
forefathers. Administered by some of the most eminent men, who contributed
to its formation, through a most eventful period in the annals of the
world, and through all the vicissitudes of peace and war, incidental to
the condition of associated man, it has not disappointed the hopes and
aspirations of those illustrious benefactors of their age and nation. It
has promoted the lasting welfare of that country so dear to us all; it
has, to an extent far beyond the ordinary lot of humanity, secured the
freedom and happiness of this people. We now receive it as a precious
inheritance from those to whom we are indebted for its establishment,
doubly bound by the examples which they have left us, and by the blessings
which we have enjoyed, as the fruits of their labors, to transmit the
same, unimpaired, to the succeeding generation.
"In the compass of thirty-six years, since this great national covenant
was instituted, a body of laws enacted under its authority, and in
conformity with its provisions, has unfolded its powers, and carried into
practical operation its effective energies. Subordinate departments have
distributed the executive functions in their various relations to foreign
affairs, to the revenue and expenditures, and to the military force of the
Union, by land and sea. A co-ordinate department of the judiciary has
expounded the constitution and the laws; settling, in harmonious
coincidence with the legislative will, numerous weighty questions of
construction, which the imperfection of human language had rendered
unavoidable. The year of jubilee since the first formation of our Union,
has just elapsed; that of the Declaration of our Independence is at hand.
The consummation of both was effected by this constitution. Since that
period, a population of four millions has multiplied to twelve. A
territory bounded by the Mississippi has been extended from sea to sea.
New States have been admitted to the Union, in numbers nearly equal to
those of the first confederation. Treaties of pence, amity, and commerce,
have been concluded with the principal dominions of the earth. The people
of other nations, inhabitants of regions acquired, not by conquests, but
by compact, have been united with us in the participation of our rights
and duties, of our burdens and blessings. The forest has fallen by the axe
of our woodsmen--the soil has been made to teem by the tillage of our
farmers; our commerce has whitened every ocean. The dominion of man over
physical nature has been extended by the invention of our artists. Liberty
and law have marched hand in hand. All the purposes of human association
have been accomplished as effectually as under any other Government on
the globe, and at a cost little exceeding, in a whole generation, the
expenditures of other nations in a single year.
"Such is the unexaggerated picture of our condition under a constitution
founded upon the republican principle of equal rights. To admit that this
picture has its shades, is but to say, that it is still the condition of
men upon earth. From evil--physical, moral, and political--it is not our
claim to be exempt. We have suffered, sometimes by the visitation of
Heaven through disease, often by the wrongs and injustice of other
nations, even to the extremities of war; and lastly, by dissentions among
ourselves--dissentions, perhaps, inseparable from the enjoyment of
freedom, but which have more than once appeared to threaten the
dissolution of the Union, and, with it, the overthrow of all the
enjoyments of our present lot, and all our earthly hopes of the future.
The causes of these dissensions have been various, founded upon
differences of speculation in the theory of republican government, upon
conflicting views of policy in our relations with foreign nations; upon
jealousies of partial and sectional interests, aggravated by prejudices
and prepossessions, which strangers to each other are ever apt to
entertain.
"It is a source of gratification and of encouragement to me, to observe
that the great result of this experiment upon the theory of human rights,
has, at the close of that generation by which it was formed, been crowned
with success equal to the most sanguine expectations of its founders.
Union, justice, tranquillity, the common defence, the general welfare,
and the blessings of liberty--all have been promoted by the Government
under which we have lived. Standing at this point of time, looking back to
that generation which has gone by, and forward to that which is advancing,
we may at once indulge in grateful exultation and in cheering hope. From
the experience of the past, we derive instructive lessons for the future.
"Of the two great political parties which have divided the opinions and
feelings of our country, the candid and the just will now admit, that both
have contributed splendid talents, spotless integrity, ardent patriotism,
and disinterested sacrifices, to the formation and administration of the
Government, and that both have required a liberal indulgence for a portion
of human infirmity and error. The revolutionary wars of Europe, commencing
precisely at the moment when the Government of the United States first
went into operation under the constitution, excited collisions of
sentiments and of sympathies, which kindled all the passions and
embittered the conflict of parties, till the nation was involved in war,
and the Union was shaken to its centre. This time of trial embraced a
period of five and twenty years, during which the policy of the Union in
its relations with Europe constituted the principal basis of our own
political divisions, and the most arduous part of the action of the
Federal Government. With the catastrophe in which the wars of the French
Revolution terminated, and our own subsequent peace with Great Britain,
this baneful weed of party strife was uprooted. From that time no
difference of principle, connected with the theory of government, or with
our intercourse with foreign nations, has existed or been called forth in
force sufficient to sustain a continued combination of parties, or given
more than wholesome animation to public sentiment or legislative debate.
Our political creed, without a dissenting voice that can be heard, is,
that the will of the people is the source, and the happiness of the people
is the end, of all legitimate government upon earth: that the best
security for the beneficence, and the best guaranty against the abuse of
power, consists in the freedom, the purity, and the frequency of popular
elections: that the General Government of the Union, and the separate
Governments of the States, are all sovereignties of legitimate powers,
fellow-servants of the same masters--uncontrolled within their respective
spheres, uncontrollable by encroachments on each other. If there have been
those who doubted whether a confederated representative democracy was a
Government competent to the wise and orderly management of the common
concerns of a mighty nation, those doubts have been dispelled. If there
have been projects of partial confederacies to be erected upon the ruins
of the Union, they have been scattered to the winds. If there have been
dangerous attachments to one foreign nation, and antipathies against
another, they have been extinguished. Ten years of peace at home and
abroad have assuaged the animosities of political contention, and blended
into harmony the most discordant elements of public opinion. There still
remains one effort of magnanimity, one sacrifice of prejudice and passion,
to be made by the individuals throughout the nation who have heretofore
followed the standards of political party. It is that of discarding every
remnant of rancor against each other, of embracing, as countrymen and
friends, and of yielding to talents and virtue alone that confidence
which, in times of contention for principle, was bestowed only upon those
who bore the badge of party communion.
"The collisions of party spirit, which originate in speculative opinions,
or in different views of administrative policy, are in their nature
transitory. Those which are founded on geographical divisions, adverse
interests of soil, climate, and modes of domestic life, are more
permanent, and therefore, perhaps, more dangerous. It is this which gives
inestimable value to the character of our Government, at once federal and
national. It holds out to us a perpetual admonition to preserve, alike,
and with equal anxiety, the rights of each individual State in its own
Government, and the rights of the whole nation in that of the Union.
Whatever is of domestic concernment, unconnected with the other members
of the Union, or with foreign lands, belongs exclusively to the
administration of the State Governments. Whatsoever directly involves the
rights and interests of the federative fraternity, or of foreign powers,
is, of the resort of this General Government. The duties of both are
obvious in the general principle, though sometimes perplexed with
difficulties in the detail. To respect the rights of the State Governments
is the inviolable duty of that of the Union: the Government of every State
will feel its own obligation to respect and preserve the rights of the
whole. The prejudices everywhere too commonly entertained against distant
strangers are worn away, and the jealousies of jarring interests are
allayed, by the composition and functions of the great national councils,
annually assembled, from all quarters of the Union, at this place. Here
the distinguished men from every section of our country, while meeting to
deliberate upon the great interests of those by whom they are deputed,
learn to estimate the talents, and do justice to the virtues, of each
other. The harmony of the nation is promoted, and the whole Union is knit
together by the sentiments of mutual respect, the habits of social
intercourse, and the ties of personal friendship, formed between the
representatives of its several parts in the performance of their service
at this metropolis.
"Passing from this general review of the purposes and injunctions of the
Federal constitution and their results, as indicating the first traces of
the path of duty in the discharge of my public trust, I turn to the
administration of my immediate predecessor, as the second. It has passed
away in a period of profound peace: how much to the satisfaction of our
country, and to the honor of our country's name, is known to you all. The
great features of its policy, in general concurrence with the will of the
Legislature, have been--To cherish peace while preparing for defensive war
to yield exact justice to other nations, and maintain the rights of our
own--to cherish the principles of freedom and equal rights, wherever they
were proclaimed--to discharge, with all possible promptitude, the national
debt--to reduce within the narrowest limits of efficiency the military
force--to improve the organization and discipline of the army--to provide
and sustain a school of military science--to extend equal protection to
all the great interests of the nation--to promote the civilization of the
Indian tribes; and to proceed to the great system of internal
improvements, within the limits of the constitutional power of the Union.
Under the pledge of these promises, made by that eminent citizen at the
time of his first induction to this office, in his career of eight years
the internal taxes have been repealed; sixty millions of the public debt
have been discharged; provision has been made for the comfort and relief
of the aged and indigent among the surviving warriors of the Revolution;
the regular armed force has been reduced, and its constitution revised and
perfected; the accountability for the expenditures of public monies has
been more effective; the Floridas have been peaceably acquired, and our
boundary has been extended to the Pacific Ocean; the independence of the
southern nations of this hemisphere has been recognized, and recommended
by example and by counsel to the potentates of Europe; progress has been
made in the defence of the country, by fortifications and the increase of
the navy--towards the effectual suppression of the African traffic in
slaves--in alluring the aboriginal hunters of our land to the cultivation
of the soil and of the mind--in exploring the interior regions of the
Union, and in preparing, by scientific researches and surveys, for the
further application of our national resources to the internal improvement
of our country.
"In this brief outline of the promise and performance of my immediate
predecessor, the line of duty, for his successor, is clearly delineated.
To pursue to their consummation those purposes of improvement in our
common condition instituted or recommended by him, will embrace the whole
sphere of my obligation. To the topic of internal improvement,
emphatically urged by him at his inauguration, I recur with peculiar
satisfaction. It is that from which I am convinced that the unborn
millions of our posterity, who are in future ages to people this
continent, will derive their most fervent gratitude to the founders of the
Union--that in which the beneficent action of its Government will be most
deeply felt and acknowledged. The magnificence and splendor of their
public works are among the imperishable glories of the ancient republics.
The roads and aqueducts of Rome have been the admiration of all after
ages, and have survived thousands of years after all her conquests have
been swallowed up in despotism, or become the spoil of barbarians. Some
diversity of opinion has prevailed with regard to the powers of Congress
for legislation upon objects of this nature. The most respectful deference
is due to doubts, originating in pure patriotism, and sustained by
venerated authority. But nearly twenty years have passed since the
construction of the first national road was commenced. The authority for
its construction was then unquestioned. To how many thousands of our
countrymen has it proved a benefit? To what single individual has it ever
proved an injury? Repeated, liberal and candid discussions in the
Legislature have conciliated the sentiments, and approximated the opinions
of enlightened minds, upon the question of constitutional power. I cannot
but hope that, by the same process of friendly, patient, and persevering
deliberation, all constitutional objections will ultimately be removed.
The extent and limitation of the powers of the General Government, in
relation to this transcendently important interest, will be settled and
acknowledged to the common satisfaction of all; and every speculative
scruple will be solved by a practical public blessing.
"Fellow-citizens, you are acquainted with the peculiar circumstances of
the recent election, which have resulted in affording me the opportunity
of addressing you at this time. You have heard the exposition of the
principles which will direct me in the fulfilment of the high and solemn
trust imposed upon me in this station. Less possessed of your confidence,
in advance, than any of my predecessors, I am deeply conscious of the
prospect that I shall stand more and oftener in need of your indulgence.
Intentions upright and pure, a heart devoted to the welfare of our
country, and the unceasing application of the faculties allotted to me to
her service, are all the pledges that I can give for the faithful
performance of the arduous duties I am to undertake. To the guidance of
the legislative councils; to the assistance of the executive and
subordinate departments; to the friendly co-operation of the respective
State Governments; to the candid and liberal support of the people, so far
as it may be deserved by honest industry and zeal; I shall look for
whatever success may attend my public service: and knowing that 'except
the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain,' with fervent
supplications for His favor, to His overruling providence I commit, with
humble but fearless confidence, my own fate, and the future destinies of
my country."
In entering upon the discharge of his duties as President, Mr. Adams
proceeded to form his cabinet by nominating Henry Clay, of Kentucky,
Secretary of State; Richard Rush, of Pennsylvania, Secretary of the
Treasury; James Barbour, of Virginia, Secretary of War; Samuel L.
Southard, Secretary of the Navy, and Wm. Wirt, Attorney General. These
were all men of superior talents, of tried integrity and faithfulness, and
well worthy the elevated positions to which they were called.