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his bodily vigor was fast departing. Finally, among his friends, and surrounded by his family, he died at Washington City, on the morning of the 31st of March, 1850. Mrs. Calhoun, who was a Crawford, and her husband's own cousin, survived him. He also left a family of sons and daughters.

In this brief sketch there has not been the remotest design of presenting even the character, let alone the political importance, of this interesting and able man. Throughout this work, his name and his doctrines often appear. A volume, not a chapter, would be necessary to do them justice. He représented his section, and all that is interesting in its history is illustrated in his. A history of Mr. Calhoun would be a history of the social and political system and philosophy he represented. Their sophistry may, to some extent, appear in the pages of this voluminous work. Without them this man would have been President, and would also have been great. With them, he went down, and while still not lacking in elements of greatness, must stand in all times as the expounder and defender of a system founded upon and sustained by theories in themselves false, and hence beyond the possibility of operating beneficially to the human race. Amidst the triumphant progress of better, of wise and just, principles, at this day, it would be a fruitless task and an unjustifiable curiosity to fight over again, through Mr. Calhoun, the groundless hopes of a dead past. With the fall of the "institution" of slavery, went down the political theories on which it was upheld; and with them must forever lie buried and secluded this most powerful of their defenders.

CHAPTER XVIII.

MR. ADAMS'S INAUGURATION-THE NEW ADMINISTRATIONBEFORE THE STORM-MR. ADAMS AND LA FAYETTE

A

DISTINGUISHED GOD-FATHERS.

LTHOUGH Mr. Adams was not satisfied with

the manner of his election as not indicating a large unequivocal majority in the popular vote, yet he came honorably and in the way provided by the Constitution, to the Presidency; and his scruples in the matter were wholly out of keeping with the scrambles for the office since his time.

On the 12th of February, Mr. Clay visited Mr. Adams, and was then offered the position of Secretary of State. He asked time to consider and consult his friends. Some of the political friends of De Witt Clinton desired him to take this place in the new Administration, and Mr. Adams felt inclined to listen to the claims believed to attach to Mr. Clinton. But Mr. Clay's acceptance of the State Department, stopped all further consideration of this point, and Mr. Clinton was then offered the mission to England. This he declined in the following letter:

"ALBANY, 25th February, 1825. "SIR, I feel most sensibly the honor conferred upon me by your communication of the 18th instant, and I receive the expression of your good opinion with a corresponding spirit. But having recently accepted from the people of this State the highest office in their power, I can not, consistently with my sense

of duty, retire from it, until I have had an ample opportunity of evincing my gratitude and my devotion to their interests.

"I assure you, sir, that it will afford me the highest gratification, in my present station, to aid you in your patriotic efforts, and to witness the auspicious influence of your Administration on the best interests of our country.

"I have the honor to be, with perfect respect, your most obedient servant, DE WITT CLINTON." Thomas Addis Emmet and many other friends of Mr. Clinton urged him to accept this mission, but he was controlled by other counsels. He did not believe that his own chances to be President were gone, and the lower class of politicians, who lived by his patronage, were not slow in making known their wise suspicions that Mr. Adams wanted to get him out of the country. Mr. Adams did not believe Mr. Clinton would accept the position, and hoped he would not do So. He had in view a man for the British Mission whom he believed to be possessed of superior qualities for it, and whom he desired to aid him in making his Administration successful and illustrious. This was Rufus King, the old Federalist.

Among those who early called to seek employment of Mr. Adams was Mrs. Madison's son, Payne Todd, of whose qualities Mr. Adams had an opportunity to learn during the negotiations of Ghent.

Mr. Seward, in his "Life" of Mr. Adams gives the following description of the inauguration of the sixth President :

"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 center 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."

On the night of the 4th of March, 1825, after the trying ordeal of the day Mr. Adams himself wrote in his Diary this account of his own inauguration :

"After two successive sleepless nights, I entered upon this day with a supplication to Heaven, first, for my country; secondly, for myself and for those connected with my good name and fortunes, that the last results of its events may be auspicious and blessed. About half-past eleven o'clock I left my house with an escort of several companies of militia and a cavalcade of citizens, accompanied in my carriage by Samuel L. Southard, Secretary of the Navy, William Wirt, Attorney-General, and followed by James Monroe, late President of the United States, in his own carriage. We proceeded to the Capitol, and to the Senate chamber. The Senate were in session, and John C. Calhoun presiding in the chair, having been previously sworn into office as Vice-President of the United States, and President of the Senate. The Senate adjourned, and from the Senate chamber, accompanied by the members of that body and by the Judges of the Supreme Court, I repaired to the hall of the House of Representatives, and, after delivering from the Speaker's chair my inaugural address to the crowded auditory, I pronounced from a volume of the laws held up to me by John Marshall, Chief Justice of the United States, the oath faithfully to execute the laws of the United States, and, to the best of my ability, to preserve protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States.

"After exchanging salutations with the late President, and many other persons present, I retired from the hall, passed in review the military companies drawn up in front of the Capitol, and returned to my house with the same procession which accompanied me from it. I found at my house a crowd of visitors, which continued about two hours, and received their felicitations. Before the throng had subsided, I went myself to the President's house, and joined with the multitude of visitors to Mr. Monroe there. I then returned home to dine, and in the evening attended the ball, which was also crowded, at Carusi's Hall. Immediately after supper I withdrew, and came home. I closed the day as it had begun, with thanksgiving to God for all his mercies and favors past, and with prayers for the continuance of them to my country, and to me and mine."

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