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P O E M S


OF


RELIGION AND SOCIETY


BY


JOHN QUINCY ADAMS
SIXTH PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, ETC., ETC.


WITH


Notices of his Life and Character,

by


JOHN DAVIS AND T. H. BENTON.

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AUBURN:
DERBY AND MILLER
1859.

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Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1848, by
WILLIAM H. GRAHAM.
In the Clerk's Office of the District Court for the Southern District of New York.


Stereotyped by Baner & Palmer
11 Spruce Street

	Page.
Publisher's Notice	v.
The Life of Mr. Adams, by the Hon. John Davis,	7 8 9 10 11.
The Character of Mr. Adams, by the Hon. T. H. Benton,	12 13 14.
POEMS.
The Wants of Man,	15
The Plague in the Forest,	24
To a Bereaved Mother,	29
Charles the Fifth's Clocks,	32
Retrospection,	36
To the Sun-dial, under the Window of the Hall of the House of Representatives of the United States,	38
The Thirteenth Satire of Juvenal,	39
Version of the One Hundred Seventh Psalm,	52
The Hour-glass,	54
Sabbath Morning,	56
The Death of Children,	58
Written in Sickness,	60
Hymn for the Twenty-second of December,	62
O God, with goodness all thy own,	64
Sing to Jehovah a new song,	65
O, all ye people, clap your hands,	67
Turn to the stars of heaven thine eyes,	69
O Lord my God! how great art thou!	71
O Lord, thy all-discerning eyes,	73
My soul, before thy Maker kneel,	75
For Thee in Zion waiteth praise,	77
My Shepherd is the Lord on high,	79
Send forth, O God, thy truth and light,	81
O judge me, Lord, for thou art just,	82
O heal me, Lord, for I am weak,	83
Blest is the mortal whose delight,	85
Why should I fear in evil days,	87
Come, let us sing unto the Lord,	89
Sing to the Lord a song of praise,	90
Lord of all Worlds,	92
Justice--an Ode,	94
To Sally,	100
To E--- B---,	103
To a Lady, who Presented him with a Pair of Knit Gloves,	105
The Lip and the Heart,	107
Written in an Album,	108

IT is known to all the friends of the late ex-President Adams, that it was his custom from early manhood to devote his leisure moments to literature; and the fruits of his literary studies, when collected in an appropriate form, will show that he is entitled to high consideration among our authors. Among his poems are a translation* of Wiesland's "Oberon" that has never been published. His "Dermot McMorrogh" failed of a just appreciation, on account of his political relations. Many of his minor pieces have wit, humor, grace, and tenderness, and they are all informed with wisdom and various learning. Some of his "hymns" are among the finest devotional lyrics in our language.

This collection of Mr. Adams' shorter poems is, of course, incomplete, having been made from the periodicals and miscellanies in which they were originally printed; but the editor has made it as perfect as his opportunities allowed, and he is confident that, in the absence of any other volume of the same kind, he has done an acceptable service to the reading public.

NEW YORK, Sept., 1848.

* See Griswold's "Prose writers of America," Article J. Q. Adams

JOHN QUINCY ADAMS was born in the then Province of Massachusetts, while she was girding herself for the great Revolutionary struggle which was then before her. His parentage is too well known to need even an allusion; yet I may be pardoned if I say, that his father seemed born to aid in the establishment of our free government, and his mother was a suitable companion and co-laborer of such a patriot. The cradle hymns of the child were the songs of liberty. The power and competence of man for self-government were the topics which he most frequently heard discussed by the wise men of the day, and the inspiration thus caught, gave form and pressure to his after life. Thus early imbued with the love of free institutions, educated by his father for the service of his country, and early led by Washington to its altar, he has stood before the world as one of its eminent statesmen. He has occupied, in turn, almost every place of honor which the country could give him, and for more than half a century has been thus identified with its history. Under any circumstances, I should feel myself unequal to the task of rendering justice to his memory: but, with the debilitating effect of bad health still upon me, I can only with extreme brevity touch upon some of the most prominent features of his life

While yet a young man, he was, in May, 1794, appointed Minister Resident to the States General of the United Netherlands. In May, 1796, two years after, he was appointed Minister Plenipotentiary at Lisbon, in Portugal. These honors were conferred on him by George Washington, with the advice and consent of the Senate.

In May, 1797, he was appointed Minister Plenipotentiary to the King of Prussia. In March, 1798, and probably while at Berlin, he was appointed a Commissioner, with full powers to negotiate a treaty of amity and commerce with Sweden.

After his return to the United States he was elected by the Legislature of Massachusetts a Senator, and discharged the duties of that station in this chamber from the 4th of March, 1803, until June, 1808, when differing from his colleagues and from the State upon a great political question, he resigned his seat. In June, 1809, he was nominated and appointed Minister Plenipotentiary to the Court of St. Petersburgh.

While at that court, in February, 1811, he was appointed an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, to fill a vacancy occasioned by the death of Judge Cushing, but never took his seat upon the bench.

In May, 1813, he, with Messrs. Gallatin and Bayard, was nominated Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to negotiate a treaty of peace with Great Britain, under the mediation of Russia, and a treaty of commerce with Russia. From causes which it is unnecessary to notice, nothing was accomplished under this appointment. But afterward, in January, 1814, he, with Messrs. Gallatin, Bayard, Clay, and Russell, were appointed Ministers Plenipotentiary and Extraordinary to negotiate a treaty of peace, and a treaty of commerce with Great Britain. This mission succeded in effecting a pacification, and the name of Mr. Adams is subscribed to the treaty of Ghent.

After this eventful crisis in our public affairs, he was, in February, 1815, selected by Mr. Madison to represent the country, and protect its interests, at the Court of St. James; and he remained there as Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary until Mr. Monroe became President of the United States.

On the 5th of March, 1817, at the commencement of the new administration, he was appointed Secretary of State, and continued in the office while that gentleman was at the head of the administration.

In 1825, he was elected his successor, and discharge the duties of President for one term, ending on the third of March, 1829.

Here followed a brief period of repose from public service, and Mr. Adams retired to his family mansion at Quincy; but was elected a member of the House of Representatives, from the district in which he lived, at the next election which occurred after his return to it, and took his seat in December, 1831. He retained it, by successive elections, to the day of his death.

I have not ventured, on this occasion, beyond a bare enumeration of the high places of trust and confidence which have been conferred upon the deceased. The service covers a period of more than half a century; and what language can I employ which will portray more forcibly the great merits of the deceased, the confidence reposed in him by the public, or the ability with which he discharged the duties devolved upon him, than by this simple narration of recorded facts? An ambitious man could not desire a more emphatic eulogy.

Mr. Adams, however, was not merely a statesman, but a ripe, accomplished scholar, who, during a life of remarkably well-directed industry, made those great acquirements which adorned his character, and gave to it the manly strength of wisdom and intelligence.

As a statesman and patriot, he will rank among the illustrious men of an age prolific in great names, and greatly distinguished for its progress in civilization. The productions of his pen are proofs of a vigorous mind, imbued with a profound knowledge of what it investigates, and of a memory which was singularly retentive and capacious.

But his character is not made up of those conspicuous qualities alone. He will be remembered for the virtues of private life, for his elevated moral example, for his integrity, for his devotion to his duties as a Christian, as a neighbor, and as the head of a family. In all these realtions, few persons have set a more steadfast or brighter example, and few have descended to the grave where the broken ties of social and domestic affection have been more sincerely lamented. Great as may be the loss to the public of one so gifted and wise, it is by the family that his death will be most deeply felt. His aged and beloved partner, who has so long shared the honors of his career, and to whom all who know her are bound, by the ties of friendship will believe that we share her grief, mourn her bereavement, and sympathize with her in her affliction.

It is believed to have been the earnest wish of his heart to die, like Chatham, in the midst of his labors. It was a sublime thought, that where he had toiled in the house of the nation, in hours of the day devoted to its service, the stroke of death should reach him, and there sever the ties of love and patriotism which bound him to earth. He fell in his seat, attacked by paralysis, of which he had before been a subject. To describe the scene which ensued would be impossible. It was more than the spontaneous gush of feeling which all such events call forth, so much to the honor of our nature. It was the expression of reverence for his moral worth, of admiration for his great intellectual endowments, and of veneration for his age and public services. All gathered round the sufferer, and the strong sympathy and deep feeling which were manifested, showed that the business of the House (which was instantly adjourned) was forgotten amid the distressing anxieties of the moment. He was soon removed to the apartment of the Speaker, where he remained, surrounded by afflicted friends, till the weary clay resigned its immortal spirit. "This is the end of earth!" Brief but emphatic words. They were among the last uttered by the dying Christian.

Thus has closed the life of one whose purity, patriotism, talents, and learning, have seldom been seriously questioned. To say that he had faults, would only be declaring that he was human. Let him who is exempt from error, venture to point them out. In this long career of public life, it would be strange if the venerable man had not met with many who have differed from him in sentiment, or who have condemned his acts. If there be such, let the mantle of oblivion be thrown over each unkind thought. Let not the grave of the "old man eloquent" be desecrated by unfriendly remembrances, but let us yield our homage to his many virtues, and let it be our prayer that we may so perform our duties here, that, if summoned in a like sudden and appalling manner, we may not be found unprepared or unable to utter his words, "I am composed."

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THE

CHARACTER OF MR ADAMS

BY THE HON. T. H. BENTON.

THE voice of his native State has been heard, through one of the Senators of Massachusetts, announcing the death of her aged and most distinguished son. It is not unfitting or unbecoming in me to second the motion which has been made, for extending the last honors of the Senate to him who, forty-five years ago, was a member of this body, who, at the time of his death, was among the oldest members of the House of Representatives, and who, putting the years of his service together, was the oldest of all the members of the American government.

The eulogium of Mr. Adams is made in the facts of his life, which the Senator from Massachusetts has so strikingly stated, that, from early manhood to octogenarian age, he has been constantly and most honorably employed in the public service. For a period of more than fifty years, from the time of his first appointment as minister abroad under Washington, to his last election to the House of Representatives by the people of his native district, he has been constantly retained in the public service; and that, not by the favor of a sovereign, or by hereditary title, but by the elections and appointments of republican government. This fact makes the eulogy of the illustrious deceased. For what, except a union of all the qualities which command the esteem and confidence of man, could have ensured a public service so long, by appointments free and popular, and from sources so various and exalted? Minister many times abroad; member of this body; member of the House of Representatives; cabinet minister; President of the United States; such has been the galaxy of his splendid appointments. And what but moral excellence the most perfect; intellectual ability the most eminent; fidelity the most unwavering; service the most useful; could have commanded such a succession of appointments so exalted, from sources so various and so eminent? Nothing less could have commanded such a series of appointments; and accordingly we see the union of all these great qualities in him who has received them.

In this long career of public service, Mr. Adams was distinguished not only by faithful attention to all the great duties of his stations, but to all their less and minor duties. He was not the Salaminian galley, to be launched only on extraordinary occasions, but he was the ready vessel, always launched when the duties of his station required it, be the occasion great or small. As President, as cabinet minister, as minister abroad, he examined all questions that came before him, and examined all, in all their parts, in all the minutiæ of their detail, as well as in all the vastness of their comprehension. As Senator, and as a member of the House of Representatives, the obscure committee-room was as much the witness of his laborious application to the drudgery of legislation, as the halls of the two Houses were to the ever ready speech, replete with knowlede, which instructed all hearers, englightened all subjects, and gave dignity and ornament to debate.

In the observance of all the proprieties of life, Mr. Adams was a most noble and impressive example. He cultivated the minor as well as the greater virtues. Wherever his presence could give aid and countenance to what was useful and honorable to man, there he was. In the exercises of the school and of the college--in the meritorious societies--in attendance upon divine worship--he gave the punctual attendance rarely seen but in those who are free from the weight of public cares.

Punctual to every duty, death found him at the post of duty; and where else could it have found him, at any stage of his career, for the fifty years of his illustrious public life? From the time of his first appointment by Washington to his last election by the people of his native town, where could death have found him but at the post of duty? At that post, in the fullness of age, in the ripeness of renown, crowned with honors, surrounded by his family, his friends, and admirers, and in the very presence of the national representation, he has been gathered to his fathers, leaving behind him the memory of public services which are the history of his country for half a century, and the example of a life, public and private, which should be the study and the model of the generations of his countrymen.

* It was written under these circumstances:--General Ogle informed Mr. Adams that several young ladies in his district had requested him to procure Mr. A.'s autograph for them. In accordance with this request, Mr. Adams wrote the following beautiful poem upon "The Wants of Man," each stanza upon a sheet of note paper.