President Adams appointed John Marshall, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. Probably a more fortunate appointment, judged by its results, was never made. The interpretation of the Constitution was not less important and was more difficult than its drafting. For thirty-four years Mr. Justice Marshall expounded the Constitution and his memorable work put nationality upon a solid basis. Some of the other acts of Adams at this time are not so praiseworthy. The Judiciary Act of 1801, provided for a number of judges far in excess of the needs of the country. The Federalists took advantage of their brief lease of life to provide comfortable offices for themselves. The appointments under the act were made, of course, by Adams, and he remained at the capitol at this and other business until a late hour on the night of the 3d of March, 1801. Many of these "midnight appointments" were legislated out of office during the period of Republican control. After completing his work only a few hours before the inauguration of Jefferson, Adams slunk out of Washington without bringing his greetings to his successor in office. This, of course, was an unpardonable discourtesy. Some writers have attempted to defend, to explain, to palliate, or to justify the conduct of Adams, but without much success. John T. Morse is entirely correct when he says of this rudeness: "It was the worst possible manifestation of all those petty faults which formed such vexatious blemishes in Adams's singularly compounded character." Adams went into his forced retirement at Quincy, Massachusetts, and lived on for a quarter of a century. In 1825, he had the pleasure of seeing his greater son, John Quincy Adams, elevated to the chief magistracy; but, on the whole, his declining years were full of stubborn resentment. He wrote some ill-advised letters during his retirement which do not represent him at his best. His views on political matters remained for the most part unchanged, and his loyalty to the French missions never faltered. In January, 1815, in the course of a long letter to James Lloyd, he said: "I wish not to fatigue you with too

long a letter at once; but, Sir, I will defend my missions to France, as long as I have an eye to direct my hand, or a finger to hold my pen. They were the most disinterested and meritorious actions of my life. I reflect upon them with so much satisfaction, that I desire no other inscription over my gravestone than: Here lies John Adams, who took upon himself the responsibility of the peace with France in the year 1800.'" In another letter to Mr. Lloyd, dated February 6, 1815, Mr. Adams expresses himself to the same effect when he says: "My missions to France,' which you call the 'great shade in my Presidential escutcheon,' I esteem the most splendid diamond in my crown; or, if any one thinks this expression too monarchical, I will say the most brilliant feather in my cap."

John Adams died on the evening of July 4, 1826, at the age of ninety-one. His last words were: "Thomas Jefferson still survives." He did not know that Jefferson had died a few hours before. Adams was one of the strong, sturdy characters of our early national history. He was more sinned against than sinning.

CHAPTER XVI

ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL CONDITIONS AT THE CLOSE OF THE CENTURY

THE economic and social conditions in the United States at the close of the eighteenth century do not furnish materials for an inspiring chapter. The people were conservative to a fault. Changes were looked upon as evils to be abhorred. Said Jedidiah Morse: "Let us guard against the insidious encroachments of innovation, that evil and beguiling spirit which is now stalking to and fro through the earth, seeking whom he may devour." Morse sounded the keynote of the times. To be progressive was to be a fanatic; to advocate changes in the old order of things, was a sure symptom of lunacy. He who would be respectable must be conservative. An examination of the economic and social conditions in 1800 will confirm these statements. In a material way there was little aggressiveness or enterprise. Those very qualities which are now most characteristic of Americans were then conspicuously lacking.

The census of 1800 showed a substantial increase in population. There were five million three hundred and eight thousand four hundred and eighty-three people, of whom nearly twenty per cent were slaves, in the United States in 1800, as against three million nine hundred and twenty-nine thousand two hundred and fourteen in 1790. Virginia still remained the most populous State, with eight hundred and eighty thousand two hundred inhabitants; Pennsylvania, New York, North Carolina, and Massachusetts

followed in the order named. Delaware had sixty-four thousand two hundred and seventy-three inhabitants and the District of Columbia fourteen thousand. These five millions of people were scattered over about three hundred thousand square miles of territory, and about three and onehalf millions of them were easily accessible to tidewater. Kentucky and Tennessee, at the time, constituted the "far West" that district which seemed to many to be the beginning of a new republic with its face toward the Mississippi and the West, rather than the Atlantic and the East. The West, however, was being settled quite rapidly. In 1790, there were one hundred and ten thousand inhabitants, and in 1800, three hundred and seventy thousand. The centre of population had left the coast and begun its westward march. In 1790, it was twenty-three miles east of Baltimore, and in 1800, it was eighteen miles west of that city. Some few settlements had been made in the Ohio territory. There were about forty-five thousand people there scattered in settlements at Marietta, Cincinnati, Chillicothe, and other points, including a few tents where Cleveland now stands. The distance between the East and West seemed almost insuperable, as there were no points of direct

contact.

There were, in round numbers, about a million slaves in the United States in 1800. About nine hundred thousand of these were south of Mason and Dixon's line. In point of white population, the North outnumbered the South about

two to one.

The population was very largely rural, only about five per cent of the people living in the cities. In fact, the cities were few in number. Philadelphia, New York, Baltimore, Boston, and Charleston, with populations ranging from seventy thousand to twenty thousand were the five largest cities, in the order named. Philadelphia surpassed all other American cities, not only in population, but in education, culture, and municipal improvements. It was the custom, in 1800, to compare Philadelphia with the capitals of the