450 JOHN ADAMS SUCCEEDS WASHINGTON. John Adams elected Washington's Successor.-Washington's Farewell Address produced a deep sensation throughout the country. It went to every house and every heart. After its publication, the two great political parties of the country began to range themselves definitively under the leadership of John Adams, on one side, and Thomas Jefferson' on the other, both of whom were candidates as Washington's successor. The struggle ended in the election of Adams, who was inaugurated on the 4th of March, 1797. at the same time became Vice-President.' Jefferson Insults of the French Directory.-One of the most important events that occurred under the administration of Adams, was the insult which was offered to our government by the French Directory. It was without provocation on the part of the United States. The President was requested by France to recall our Minister at Paris, and the request was made in the most offensive language. According to the long established usages of nations, this insult would have been considered a sufficient justification for suspending all intercourse betwee the two Powers; but Mr. Adams being deeply imbued with the sentiments of Washington, leaned to the side of peace, and he appointed 1 Washington had been especially sensible of the talents and integrity displayed by Jefferson during the closing year of his secretaryship, and particularly throughout this French perplexity, and had recently made a last attempt, but an unsuccessful one, to persuade him to remain in the cabinet. On the same day with his letter to Genet, Jefferson addressed one to Washington, reminding him of his having postponed his retirement from office until the end of the annual year. 'That term being now arrived,' writes he, 'and my propensities to retirement becoming daily more and more irresistible, I now take the liberty of resigning the office into your hands. Be pleased to accept with it my sincere thanks for all the indulgences you have been so good as to exercise towards me in the discharge of its duties. Conscious that my need of them has been great, I have still even found them greater, without any other claim on my part than a firm pursuit of what has appeared to me to be right, and a thorough disdain of all means which were not as open and honorable as their object was pure. I carry into my retirement a lively sense of your goodness, and shall continue gratefully to remember it. to. The following was Washington's reply: 'Since it has been impossible to prevent you to forego any longer the indulgence of your desire for private life, the event, however anxious I am to avert it, must be submitted But I cannot suffer you to leave your station without assuring you that the opinion which I had formed of your integrity and talents, and which dictated your original nomination, has been confirmed by the fullest experience, and that both have been eminently displayed in the discharge of your duty.' No one seemed to throw off the toils of office with more delight than Jefferson; or to betake himself with more devotion to the simple occupations of rural life. It was his boast, in a letter to a friend written some time after his return to Monticello, that he had seen no newspaper since he had left Philadelphia, and he believed he should never take a newspaper of any other sort. I think it is Montaigne,' writes he, who had said, that ignorance is the softest pillow on which a man can rest his head. I am sure it is true as to everything political, and shall endeavor to estrange myself to everything of that character. Yet the very next sentence shows that lurking of the old party feud. 'I indulge myself in one political topic only-that is, in declaring to my countrymen the shameless corruption of the representatives of the first and second Congresses, and their implicit devotion to the treasury. We subjoin his comprehensive character of Wash ington, the result of long observation and cabinet experience, and written in after years, when there was no temptation to insincere eulogy: His integrity was most pure; his justice the most inflexible I have ever known; no motives of interest or consanguinity, of friendship or hatred, being able to bias his decision. He was, indeed, in every sense of the word, a wise, a good, and a great man.'-Irving's Life of Washington, vol. v. pp. 194-196. On the 4th of March, an immense crowd gathered about Congress Hall. At eleven o'clock, Mr. Jefferson took the oath as Vice-President in the presence of the Senate, and proceeded with that body to the Chamber of the House of Representatives, which was densely crowded, many ladies occupying chairs ceded to them by members. After a time, Washington entered amidst enthusiastic cheers and acclamations, and the waving of handkerchiefs. Mr. Adams soon followed, and was likewise well received, but not with like enthusiasm. Having taken the oath of office, Mr. Adams, in his inaugural address, spoke of his predecessor as one 'who by a long course of great actions, regulated by prudence, justice, temperance, and fortitude, had merited the gratitude of his fellow-citizens, commanded the highest praises of foreign nations, and secured immortal glory with posterity.' At the close of the ceremony, as Washington moved toward the door to retire, there was a rush from the gallery to the corridor, that threatened the loss of life or limb, so eager were the throng to catch a last look of one who had so long been the object of public veneration. When Washington was in the street, he waved his hat in return for the cheers of the multitude, his countenance radiant with benignity, his gray hairs streaming in the wind. The crowd followed him to his door; there, turning round, his countenance assumed a grave and almost melancholy expression, his eyes were bathed in tears, his emotions were too great for utterance, and only by gestures could he indicate his thanks, and convey his farewell blessing. In the evening a splendid banquet was given to him by the principal inhabitants of Philadelphia in the amphitheatre, which was decorated with emblematical paintings. All the heads of departments, the foreign ministers, several officers of the army, and various persons of note were present. Among the paintings, one represented the home of his heart, the home to which he was about to hasten-Mount VernonIrving's Life of Washington, vol. v. pp. 270, 271. 452 DEATH OF WASHINGTON. They found the government in the hands of Napoleon, then First Consul, who saw through the whole affair at a glance, and, with keen discrimination, liberal spirit, and wise policy, he met the American Envoys, and on the 30th of September, 1800, a satisfactory Treaty was concluded. From that day our intercourse with France has, with a single transient and unimportant interruption, been one of entire harmony and complete mutual confidence, in the midst of all the changes of that chameleon government. Death of Washington, December 14, 1799.-But an event had already occurred in America which had thrown the nation into mourning, and spread a feeling of sadness through the civilized world. Washington was dead! The constantly lessening number of men now living, who remember with great distinctness the painful occurrence, tell us that we can form no conception of the emotions with which the intelligence was received by a redeemed but bereaved people. Every patriotic man felt a consciousness of insecurity when the mighty arm of Washington, which had been thrown around the Constitution of the Union and the glory of these States, was struck by the paralysis of death. In the remotest settlements, and in the most populous cities, neighbors grasped each other's hands in unbidden tears and said, 'Now that Washington is gone, we must be better men.' The hour of his death was preeminently the period of his triumph. Of most men it may be said, The evil that men do lives after them; The good is oft interred with their bones ;' but of Washington this can never be said. Although he had lived the noblest life that had been lived on earth, yet we may truthfully say that the sceptre of his influence never became supreme until he was laid in the grave. Death is the only test of man. The world can then form an opinion without passion or prejudice, for in the calm deliberations of the judgment, the disturbing passions of former scenes hold feeble sway. In the consciousness of their loss, the American people, like a single body of men, bent in solemn reverence and submission to the will of heaven, and scarcely any one could tell whether gratitude for the great services of Washington, or grief for his loss, struggled strongest in his bosom. In riding out, as was his daily habit, to superintend the affairs of his plantation, he was overtaken by a storm, and returned home with a chill. The inflammation settled in his throat, and in defiance of medical skill, in the pres ence of his family, after only two days of suffering, he tranquilly died.1 His 1 At about ten o'clock Washington attempted to speak to Mr. Lear, but failed several times. At length he murmured: 'I am just going. Have me decently buried; and do not let my body be put into the vault in less than three days after I am dead.' Mr. Lear could not speak, but bowed his assent. Washington whispered: Do you understand?' Lear replied, 'Yes.' 'Tis well," he said; and these were the last words he ever spoke-"Tis well!' About ten minutes before he expired,' says Mr. Lear-which was between ten and eleven o'clock his breathing became easier. He lay quietly; he withdrew his hand from mine, and felt his own pulse. I saw his countenance change. I spoke to Dr. Craik, who sat by the fire. He came to the bedside. The General's hand fell from his wrist. I took it in mine and pressed it to my bosom. Dr. Craik put his hands over his eyes, and he expired without a struggle or a sigh. "While we were fixed in silent grief, Mrs. Wash ington, who was sitting at the foot of the bed, asked with a firm and collected voice, “Is he gone?" I could not speak, but held up my hand as a signal that he was no more. "Tis well," said she, in the same voice; "al is now over; I shall soon follow him; I have no more trials to pass through."' It may be asked,' says Mr. Custis, why was the ministry of religion wanting to shed its peaceful and |