he did not know that John Quincy Adams was the commissioner of bankruptcy, and when that office fell under his patronage, made the change in conformity to the demand which arose under his Administration, for the first time in the history of the Republic, of filling the offices with the most earnest and efficient partisan supporters. This explanation was taken with some caution, as it doubtlessly deserved to be, although it suited the Adamses and many others to appear satisfied with Mr. Jefferson's declaration about it.

At this turn in Mr. Adams's affairs, he seemed less disposed than ever to abandon politics. On this point he wrote in his Diary :

:

"I feel strong temptation and have great provocation to plunge into political controversy. But I hope to preserve myself from it by the considerations which have led me to the resolution of renouncing. A politician in this country must be the man of a party. I would fain be the man of my whole country."

This had been the sentiment of his father, and it has continued to be the sentiment of his descendants. It never quite comported with the sense of dignity, independence, and manly patriotism among the Adamses to be bound by the demands of party.

On the 5th of April, 1802, Mr. Adams was elected by the Federalists of Boston, as a member of the State Senate, and soon afterwards took his seat in that body, although he was looked upon with some distrust by the party electing him, especially the Hamilton faction of it then in the minority in Massachusetts. One of his first acts, while it served to show his independence of party, and statesman-like breadth of mind, aroused. suspicion against him, and started the slanderous charge that he was already bidding for Democratic favors.

It had been the custom to choose the governor's council from among his partisans. Mr. Adams proposed that one or two Democrats (Republicans) should be put in the council, but this doubtful proposition was rejected by the Federalists. Still this affair did. not separate him from his party friends, and in November, 1802, he stood for Representative in Congress, but had the mortification of being defeated by Dr. William Eustis, by a majority of less than one hundred votes. He had accepted the place in the State Senate from a disposition to further his desires to reach something more satisfactory, and from the principle which controlled his entire after career, that of not declining to act in any capacity which public necessities seemed to demand.

In February, 1803, a vacancy occurred in the United States Senate from Massachusetts. To fill this, Mr. Adams was elected, over Timothy Pickering, the enemy of his father. Notwithstanding the suspicion and ill-feeling of the Federalists, Mr. Adams this time was also elected by their votes. In this contest he took no part, and even went so far as to say that if it was necessary he would vote for Mr. Pickering. Of two men concerned in this election, he wrote in his caustic style:

"At the caucus Mr. Lowell and Mr. Otis (Harrison Gray) were warm partisans for Mr. Pickering. Of Lowell, I could expect no less, nor, indeed, of Otis, for he has, of his own accord, told me several times that, as Mr. Mason would certainly decline a re-election, he, the said Otis, meant to use all his influence to get me chosen in his stead. How could I possibly imagine, then, that Otis would propose or support any man but Pickering?"

Only a month later, Mr. Pickering was also elected United States Senator, and Massachusetts had the

misfortune of being represented in one branch of Congress by two very dissimilar and inharmonious men.

Mr. Adams went to Washington with his family, and on the 21st of October, 1803, took his seat in the Senate.

On Sunday, two days afterwards, he wrote in his Diary

"There is no church of any denomination in this city; but religious service is usually performed on Sundays at the Treasury Office and at the Capitol. I went both forenoon and afternoon to the Treasury, but found there was this day no preaching there, on account of the indisposition of Mr. Laurie."

Thus early in his long residence at Washington began his custom of church-going, one of which he never tired, and never abandoned during his Presidency nor at any other time. In his long term of service in the Lower House he not only attended church morning and evening on Sundays, but often considered it his duty, both for example and otherwise, to attend some church at night.

Of his position now he wrote:

It

"My election as Senator of the United States, for six years, has been the only important incident of my political career. has opened to me a scene, in some sort, though not altogether, new, and will probably affect very materially my future situation in life. I have already had occasion to experience, what I had before the fullest reason to expect, the danger of adhering to my political principles. The country is so totally given up to the spirit of party, that not to follow blindfold the one or the other is an inexpiable offense. The worst of these parties has the popular torrent in its favor, and uses its triumph with all the unprincipled fury of a faction, while the other gnashes its teeth, and is waiting with all the impatience of revenge for the time when its turn may come to oppress and punish by the people's favor. Between both, I see the impossibility

of pursuing the dictates of my own conscience without sacrificing every prospect, not merely of advancement, but even of retaining that reputation I have enjoyed. Yet my choice is made, and, if I can not hope to give satisfaction to my country, I am at least determined to have the approbation of my own reflections."

The political atmosphere of Boston was by no means similar to that of Washington City. In the latter place he lost even the moderate tolerance and support of the Adams Federalists. The Capital of the Nation was in the hands of the fierce and ravenous new party. The few Federalists in Congress were burdened with the misfortunes of their party, and were willing to aid in making Mr. Adams bear the consequences of the ill-will they would heap upon his father. The Republicans (Democrats) gloried in the opportunity his presence offered for showing how much they despised him, if for no fault of his, for the mere fact that he was the son of old John Adams. To spurn, ignore, and crush him was the apparent ambition of these generous-souled men. His very presence in Congress was ignored, and his desires and acts were held in utter contempt. Nothing wise or good which came from him was regarded with a grain of respect, until it was made the property of and came through some other Senator. For the first year or two he seldom attempted to speak, and when he did insult stared him in the face at every step. Even in the committees he was treated with studied neglect and discourtesy.

The Federalists regarded him as an unreliable party man, and to the Republicans (Democrats) it was enough for him to be an Adams. Before this time his public career had run smoothly enough. Here began the

great struggle for success which only ended with his life. Nor was he simply the scape-goat of his father. His own principles, practices, and habits, tested in the party crucibles and by the common standards of popularity, were faulty and detestable. Such was the decision. A wrong or evil construction was put upon every step he took. His independence and patriotism were misconstrued, and when the Federalists fell below him, and their unwise and fatal conduct placed him among their foes and the old enemies of his father, the plain verdict was that he had sold himself. this is anticipating.

But

His Diary now began to assume an air of importance which many of his ill-tempered contemporaries had occasion in after-times to fear. It was a fair report of the proceedings of the Senate, and, to some extent, of the whole Congress. And besides discussing with perfect freedom all men and measures of consequence, it became a faithful reflector of Congressional gossip, and the machinations of the little great men around him. The only public man of his day with industry enough to undertake and carry out such a work, to make it more than a record of his gouts and times of going to bed and getting up, and the miracles of the going and coming of the sun, and the inexplicable states of the weather, Mr. Adams was here, perhaps undesignedly, constructing for himself in this Diary the vast body of evidence by which his countrymen would be able to judge him correctly, if not reverse entirely the unfavorable estimate in which his contemporaries were disposed to place him. Here were set forth, amidst a vast array of other things, the motives of all the acts of his life.