USA > New York > New York City > Recollections of persons and events, chiefly in the city of New York; being selections from his journal > Part 6
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o'clock he fell from his chair, exclaiming "This is the last of earth ! I am content !" He was car- ried to the Speaker's room, and laid on a couch, where he remained nearly two days till he breathed his last, apparently unconscious during the interim. The House adjourned immediately after his attack, and the adjournment was contin- ued from day to day until his funeral solemnities were concluded.
Mr. Adams was a man little understood by many. He had not generally much of the genial manner and popular address which distinguished his friend Clay and others of his time. He was often so reserved and distant that many looked upon him as cold and phlegmatic. I once thought so of him myself, but on further acquaintance I found that he had a warm heart, and could be frank and cordial when occasion served.
It is not my part to describe his career as a public man, or the services he rendered to his country in the various offices he was called to fill. But there are one or two features of his character which were so prominent and so much to his credit, that they should not be overlooked or for- gotten when his name is mentioned.
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One was his undeviating integrity, his inflexi- ble purpose to do what he thought was right. It is well known that he carried this adherence to principle so far as to have disappointed, per- haps alienated some of his party friends. When he became President of the United States, he could not be induced to confer office as a reward for mere partisan zeal. He looked on such a policy as disastrous if not ruinous to our system of Government. It may yet, he remarked one day, convert our best offices of honor and emolument into dens of thieves, in which corruption may become so rife, and wrong so flagrant, as to incite the people to violence if not to revolution, in order to punish the culprits and rid themselves of the evil. However earnestly he may have been urged on the subject as a measure indispensable to keep his party together, he was not the man to sacrifice on the altar of expediency at the ex- pense of principle .*
* Mr. Adams was not the only one of our Presidents who took this honorable stand with regard to' appointments. Washington's conduct on the subject is well known. The course that Jefferson pursued was not only so wise, but so honorable to himself that wo give the following account of it, from the pen of a writer who describes the state of things in the country when Jefferson became
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This had been his rule from the first of his political career. As an instance of his fidelity to
President. " While a very young man," he says, "we entered warmly into politics, and joined the Tammany Society in Baltimore The propriety of Mr. Jefferson's course in refusing to make a general sweep of Federalists from office became a subject of discussion, and it was finally proposed that the Society should send a remonstrance to the President on the subject. A gentleman of high standing in the Association, not only for his intelligence, but for his warmth of party feeling, proposed that the wishes of 'the President's friends' should be made known to him. He himself intended to visit Monticello in the course of the ensuing summer, and, if authorized by a vote of the Society, he would open the matter to the President on some fitting occasion. This was agreed to. The gentleman discharged his commission and made his report. He said he had stated to Mr. Jefferson the wishes of his friends in Baltimore, and was listened to very respectfully, after which the President replied that he should be very glad to gratify his friends by turning the Federalists out of office, and filling their places with those of his own party, but there was an obstacle in the way which he could not remove, a question which he had not been able to solve. 'Perhaps,' he continued, 'you can do this for me.' The gentleman despaired of solving any prob- lem that puzzled Mr. Jefferson, but desired to hear what it was. ' Well, sir,' said Mr. Jefferson, 'we are Republicans, and are con- tending for the extension of the right of suffrage. Is it not so ?' 'Yes, sir,' was the reply. 'We would not, therefore,' said Mr. Jefferson, 'put any restraint upon the right of suffrage as it already exists.' ' By no means, sir,' answered our messenger. 'Tell me then,' said Mr. Jefferson, 'what is the difference between denying the right of suffrage, and punishing a man for exercising it by turning him out of office?' I could not answer Mr. Jefferson's question, and had to leave him where I found him," said our friend , when he gave us an account of the interview.
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what he felt to be his duty, I may refer to an incident in his early history, which comes to us well authenticated, although it may not be very generally known. It is said that when Minister at the Netherlands, and comparatively a youth, he was invited to join the several Ambassadors of different nations at that Court, in a gathering for social enjoyment, in which cheerful con- versation and different amusements bore a part. Once they adjourned to a Sabbath evening. The time came, and the Ambassadors collected, but the American Minister was missing. It occa- sioned inquiry and disappointment, but presum- ing some special or insuperable obstacle prevent- ed his attendance, they said little of the cir- cumstance, and adjourned again to Sabbath evening. But the American Ambassador did not attend. The next meeting was on a week day evening, and the American was in his place. They were glad to see him, and signified their disappointment at his previous absences. Instead of making an apology, or assigning a fictitious reason, he frankly stated to them that his principles would not allow him thus to employ any part of the Sabbath. He was born
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in a country settled by Puritans, of Puritan parents, who regarded the Sabbath as a divine ordinance. He had witnessed the good influence of its religious observance in the great intelli- gence, the pure morals, the energy, enterprise, and orderly habits of his countrymen. As a friend of his country, therefore, he could not per- vert the day or use it for other purposes than those to which he had been taught to devote it and seen it devoted, in whatever part of the world he might be, or by whatever different customs surrounded.
Now to those who know the sneering character of most Sabbath breakers, and think of the age, high rank and splendor of these men, in connection with the youth of Mr. Adams, it would be difficult to mention an incident of moral courage superior to this. It seems to have completely overawed his distinguished companions, for by instant and general consent, they met no more on Sabbath evenings.
Another point in his character which often drew my attention, was his vivid and grateful rec- ollection of his parents, especially of his mother. She was confessedly a superior woman, fully de-
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serving all the respect and affection of her son, and I have seen him often embracing the opportunity of showing his warm devotion to her memory. The sentiment seemed to grow stronger as he grew older; and I remember one occasion in his declin- ing years, on which it showed itself very conspic- uously.
There was a small company of us in New York, who were in the habit of meeting weekly at each other's houses for a social evening, and Mr. Adams usually made his arrangements to be with us when he passed through the city. He there met such men as Albert Gallatin, James Kent, and others whom he could not but recognize as kindred spirits, and in such society he appeared to great advantage. On such occasions, he would seem to have read every thing and to have forgotten nothing; and all this varied information would come up to his mind at the instant when the conversation called for it. As Mr. Gallatin and himself had both long been public men, and were familiar with leading states- men and scholars of their day, they had much in common to draw them out, and to render them an interesting study for others. They were about of the same height, both bald, with well de-
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veloped heads, and notwithstanding the collisions of past years in the political arena, you could see in every expression of their speaking countenances, not only that mellowed benevolence which is a fitting ornament of old age, but a very hearty delight in the company of each other.
Among other things which arose as the subject of conversation one evening, was the influence of early training by a mother or some female friend taking a mother's place; which drew from Mr. Adams the warm expression of filial feeling which was so habitual with him. He roundly asserted that no man could be expected to reach high and lasting distinction in public or private life, unless the seed from which the tree had sprung was planted by a mother's hand. He referred to the advantages he had enjoyed from maternal care and wisdom in his early days, and when he spoke of the deep impression which his mother had made on the mind of her son, the tremulous tones of his voice, and his tender feeling moved all present nearly to tears, while no one seemed more affected than Mr. Gallatin. He in his turn had something to say on the subject. His mother had died when he was but a child, but her place, he told us, was
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filled by a lady who so far adopted him as to ren- der him unconscious of a mother's loss. After he · had spoken of her for some time with great feeling, Mr. Adams taking up the subject and rising from his seat, remarked with great animation : "Gentle- men, where should you look to find the surest sign of a nation's future greatness and welfare ? Not so much to our Colleges and Universities, important as they are in their places, but to our families and our Female Seminaries, where the sex is being trained which will give its lasting impress to the coming generations. We think we govern the ladies, but the ladies govern us-and it is well for us that it is so. Among all the pungent sayings of Bonaparte, there is none more true than where he remarked that 'the greatest want of France in his day, was good mothers.'"
This sentiment was a favorite topic with Henry Clay, to whom indeed both Mr. Adams and Mr. Gallatin often referred in their conversation, always showing those feelings of kindness as well as re- spect, with which Mr. Clay had the peculiar faculty of inspiring those who came within his reach. He never forgot "The Slashes" where he spent his boyhood under the care of a mother who spent her
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choice hours in giving shape to the mind and char- acter of her son. Her image seemed to have been always present to his mind, even among the most exciting scenes of his life; and it is said that the last utterance that escaped from his lips when dying, was " My Mother, Mother, Mother," his coun- tenance in the mean time displaying an eager fond- ness as if he saw her before him, and would fly to her embraces.
The subject cannot well be over-rated. Great nations as well as great men have viewed it as of vital importance. In the days of Rome's greatest splendor, there stood on one of the seven hills, a temple dedicated to "Female Fortune;" and over its magnificent portal was written the name of Volumnia, in whose honor the temple had been built, to perpetuate her memory as a matron who had saved Rome by her influence over her sons. Not far distant from it, arose a column, and there was inscribed on it -" Cornelia, Mother of the Gracchi"-in acknowledgment of her worth, as the mother of two sons, whom she had trained to be the ornaments and defenders of her nation. Such was the respect paid to Mothers who acted well their part in Pagan Rome.
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But we have memorials of the same import in records, still more instructive than Rome can fur- nish. A mother's influence for good or for evil is presented to us with great variety of illustrations in the Scriptures. Have we observed how fre- quently they allude to the histories of the Mothers of kings who reigned in Israel and Judah, when in the days of national decline towards final ruin, the throne passed in rapid succession from one king to another who "did evil in the sight of the Lord ?" The career of guilt and declension was sometimes checked by the appearance of some good king who was a blessing to his nation. Such was Josiah, of whom, as if to account for the character of the man, we are told that " his mother's name was Jedidah," its meaning at once announcing her piety and worth. But on the other hand, when it names the wicked and idolatrous kings who were the curse of the nation, we are carefully told what were the significant names of their mothers. Of Ahaziah, the son of Ahab, "who did evil exceedingly in the sight of the Lord," we are told that his mother was Jezebel, " who stirred up his father to sin." In like manner we are told of Jehoahaz, that " his mother's name was Hamutal," and of Jehoiakim, that "his
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mother's name was Nehushtan." All this was to show that the bane of the nation was found in the nurseries of her kings, where their infant minds were tainted and poisoned by their Jezebel moth- ers ; and that being thus early led away into sin, when in after life they gained the throne, their baleful influence was felt in spreading wickedness around them till the nation was carried into cap- tivity, and the land left a desolation. It was the corrupt Queen-mothers, corrupting the minds of their infant sons who were to be future kings, that finally and mainly drew down the anger of God; nor was it till that fearful engine of evil had been for generations at work, that hope finally perished.
On the other hand, if we consult the brightest pages of Sacred History, we there find men whose names and lives will be coequal with time itself as blessings to the nation and the world. And what do we find as to their parentage? No man among the lawgivers and leaders of nations stands superior to Moses; and of his mother it is said, "she feared not the king's commandment," but trained up her son to know and serve the Lord. Under a like happy influence was the childhood and youth of David passed, and how tender is his
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acknowledgment of it in his subsequent days of power and fame, in the words, "O Lord, truly I am thy servant; I am thy servant and the son of thy handmaid - I will offer to thee the sacrifices of thanksgiving." John, the forerunner of our Lord, is said to have had none "greater than himself of all who had been born of women before him." His mother was Elizabeth, "walking in all the commandments of the Lord blameless." Among the apostles of our Lord was one noted as a son of thunder, and another, privileged to lean on his Master's bosom. We must be told who was their mother in order to account for their distinction
among the twelve. Who, let me ask, was the mother of our Lord himself? Mary, to whom the salutation from Heaven was given: "Hail, thou that art highly favored, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women;" thus in His own example, showing it to be His will, that whatever is pure and holy and noble and great in manhood must be first matured under a mother's piety and faithfulness.
It must be so. The line of the poet has become a proverb which tells us,
"Just as the twig is bent, the tree's inclined."
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and who but the mother bends the twig ? She has the mind and character in her hand while it is yet so flexible and ductile, that it can be led into any direction or formed into any shape. The delicacy of her nature, so characteristic of her sex, fits her peculiarly for the delicacy of the task. There is a . hardness or a want of sensitiveness with man, arising partly from his nature, and partly from his occupations in life, that in some degree disqualifies the father from reaching and winning the infant mind. It shrinks from his strong grasp, while it will resign itself gladly to the soft hand of a mother's care. It is the mother also who is always with her child if she is where mothers ought to be; she must see continually the workings of its nascent faculties, where they most need to be restrained, and where led and attracted. Early as she may begin her task, she may be assured that her labor will not be lost because undertaken too soon. Mind, from the hour of its creation, is always acting, and soon she will see that carefully as she is studying her child, ' quite as carefully is her child studying her. Let her watch the varying expression of its speaking face, and she will per- ceive the young mind imbibing impressions from .
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every thing it sees her do or hears her say. Let her watch on too, and when, under her care, the expanding faculties have begun to display them- selves in the sportiveness of play, she will be often surprised to find the elements of character already fixed when she little expected it. She has but to watch for it, and she will find the embryo poet or orator or warrior with her in the nursery; and what he is to be in any of these stations which he is yet to fill, she must then decide. It is a law of our being which makes it so, a law which I would were written by the finger of God on every mother's heart, a law which teaches that the mind of childhood is like wax to receive, but like marble to hold, the impressions upon it, be they for good or for evil.
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CHAPTER IX.
ERA OF BIBLE SOCIETIES .- REV. MR. CHARLES, OF BALA .- ORIGIN OF THE BRITISH AND FOREIGN BIBLE SOCIETY .- HON. ELIAS BOUDINOT .- CONVENTION TO FORM THE AMERICAN BIBLE SOCIETY .- ADDRESS OF THE CONVENTION TO THE PUBLIC .- MULTIPLICATION OF THE SCRIPTURES BY MEANS OF BIBLE SOCIETIES .- THE BIBLE THE FIRST BOOK PRINTED WITH TYPES .- IMPROVEMENT IN THE ART OF PRINTING WITHIN THE LAST FIFTY YEARS .- SUPERIORITY OF THE ENGLISH TRANSLATION OF THE BIBLE. - RESPONSIBILITY OF ENGLAND AND AMERICA FOR THE SPREAD OF CHRISTIANITY AND CIVILIZATION.
THE formation of Bible Societies is one of the most important eras in the history of the Church. The great Parent Institution, the British and Foreign Bible Society was formed in 1804, and is said to owe its origin to a simple occurrence which is to be numbered among many examples showing how great results often spring from small begin- nings.
The Rev. Mr. Charles, of Bala in Wales, as we are told, was walking in one of the streets of the town, when he met a child who attended his ministry. He inquired if she could repeat the text from which he had preached on the preceding
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Sabbath. Instead of giving a prompt reply, as she had been accustomed to do, she remained silent. "Can you not tell the text, my little girl ?" repeated Mr. Charles. The child wept, but was still silent. At length she said, "The weather, sir, has been so bad that I could not get to read the Bible." This remark surprised the good man and he exclaimed, "Could not get to read the Bible !- how was that?" The reason was soon ascertained ; there was no copy to which she could gain access, either at her own home or among her friends; and she was accustomed to travel every week seven miles over the hills to a place where she could obtain a Welsh Bible, to read the chapter from which the minister took his text ; but during that week the cold and stormy weather had prevented her usual journey.
Not long after this occurrence, Mr. Charles being in London, mentioned this touching incident to some of his friends. The result was a meet- ing which formed the British and Foreign Bible Society; and from that time onward, the circula- tion of the Scriptures "without note or comment" took a new hold of the Protestant mind throughout Christendom. In our own country various local
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societies of circumscribed extent and limited means, sprang into existence, until very few of our cities or States were without some organization of the kind; but they were not united or affilia- ted under a common head. The happy effects of this combination had been fully demonstrated in England ; the more local societies in that country giving strength to the Parent Institution by their union with it; as tributary streams give compass, depth, and force to the river in which they are united. But though we had this example before us, various considerations for a time led many to believe that such a harmony of action would be impracticable in a nation spread over so wide a territory and so diversified in their views and tastes as ourselves. A more careful examination, however, led to the conviction that these objections were without foundation, and that a National Bible Institution in this country could be made quite as efficient as in England.
The Hon. Elias Boudinot, of Burlington, New Jersey was a leading man in the movement. His name was extensively known and greatly respected throughout the country as a true Chris- tian, and a wise counsellor. He had been a mem-
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ber of the United States Congress, during the greater part of the American Revolution, in 1782 was elected President of that distinguished assembly, and had the honor, as such, of signing the Treaty of Peace with Great Britain in which the independence of the United States was ac- knowledged. He afterwards filled various offices of high importance and honor, and in matured years retired from public life, devoting himself to the study of Biblical Literature, and the exercise of a kind and munificent liberality.
The establishment of a National Bible Society had long been the subject of anxious desire with him. He now made it the great object of his life to create a sound public sentiment on the subject, and to persuade the various Bible Societies through- out the country, to send delegates to a Convention which might discuss and decide upon the wisdom of the measure he had so much at heart. In May, 1816, his object was accomplished. The Conven- tion then assembled in New York, comprising many of our best and ablest men from the ranks of both the Clergy and Laity. After due delibera- tion, a Constitution was adopted, together with a public address to the inhabitants of the United
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States soliciting their co-operation. The address was from the pen of Dr. Mason. He struck it off at a sitting, and, as he told me, he spent nearly a whole night writing it. For concentration of thought, and powerful appeal, it is one of the best among the many good things which he has written, and had a very happy effect upon the public mind. It furnishes so fine a specimen of the man, and at the same time so happily portrays the spirit with which the work was commenced, that I here subjoin it. It is as follows.
"TO THE PEOPLE OF THE UNITED STATES.
"Every person of observation has remarked that the times are pregnant with great events. The political world has undergone changes stupendous, unexpected, and calculated to inspire thoughtful men with the most boding anticipations.
"That there are in reserve, occurrences of deep, of lasting, and of general interest, appears to be the common sentiment. Such a sentiment has not been excited without a cause, and does not exist without an object. The cause is to be sought in that Providence which adapts, with wonderful exactitude, means to ends; and the object is too
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plain to be mistaken by those who carry a sense of religion into their speculations, upon the present and the future condition of our afflicted race.
" An excitement, as extraordinary as it is power- ful, has roused the nations to the importance of spreading the knowledge of the one living and true God, as revealed in His Son, the Mediator be- tween God and men, Christ Jesus. This excite- ment is the more worthy of notice, as it has followed a period of philosophy, falsely so called, and has gone in the track of those very schemes which, under the imposing name of reason and liberality, were attempting to seduce mankind from all which can bless the life that is, or shed a cheer- ing radiance on the life that is to come.
" We hail the reaction, as auspicious to whatever is exquisite in human enjoyment, or precious to human hope. We would fly to the aid of all that is holy, against all that is profane; of the purest interests of the community, the family, and the individual, against the conspiracy of darkness, dis- aster and death-to help on the mighty work of Christian Charity-to claim our place in the age of Bibles.
"We have, indeed, the secondary praise, but still
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the praise, of treading in the footsteps of those who have set an example without a parallel-an exam- ple of the most unbounded benevolence and benefi- cence; and it cannot be to us a source of any pain, that it has been set by those who are of one blood with the most of ourselves ; and has been embodied in a form so noble and so Catholic, as 'The British and Foreign Bible Society.'
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