1$26.] 
During the administration of Mr. Adams, 
party” Spirit raged’ without restraint. As 
President he had at least too much of the 
sémblance of indépendence to be warmly 
supported by either party. At all events, 
his character was not a supple one. Speak- 
ing of Washington, an observizg waiter of 
the present cay says, that he *“* made the 
government like himself, cautious, uni- 
form, simple, and substantial, without 
show or parade. While he presided, no- 
thing was done for etfect, every thing from 
principle. There was no yapouring or 
chivalry about it. Whatever was done or 
said, was done or said with gr eat delibera- 
tion, and profound seriousness.”’ Of Mr. 
Adams, the same writer observes :—“ He 
was quite another sort of man. He was 
more dictatorial, more adventurous; and, 
perhaps, more of a statesman. But look 
to the record of his adminisuation, and 
you will find the natural temper of the man 
distinctly visible in all the operations of the 
government, up to the moment when he 
overthrew himself and his, whole party by 
his hazardous political moyements. The 
cautious neutrality of Washington, which 
obtained for him, in the cabinet, what bad 
already, been awarded to hiin in the field— 
the title of the American. Fabius—was 
abandoned by Miz,, Adams for,a.more bold 
and .presumptuous,..aspect, bearing, and 
attitude, The. quiet ..dignity and, au- 
gust plainness of the former, were, put 
aside for. something more absolute and 
yegal,, ,The. countenance of,,the Ame- 
rican. ,goyernment,, under. Washington, 
throughout all its, foreign , negotiations 
and, domestic administration, ,.was erect 
and natural, .very. strong, .simple, and 
grave... But under.Mr, Adams, although 
it appeared Joftier and more imposing, and 
attracted: more attention, it had a sort of 
theatrical look, and, was, inreality, much 
Jess formidable.” 
_At the expiration of Mr. Adams’s term, 
Mr... _Jefferson,. the candidate of the Re- 
pu party, received four votes more 
a, predecessor ;,and. Mr. Adams, in 
consequence, retired. to the enjoyments of 
private life at iis seat in,Quincey. , So. sa- 
ti i, however, were. those, who,had been 
poli ly opposed, to, him of, bis merits 
aug seklaces,, that he was selected . by, the 
republicans ph Maseseliusetia as their candi- 
date for. governor, on, the death of Governor 
Sullivan ; but he declined the proffered,ho- 
NOUS. He was. one of. the electors, and 
presid of. the. electoral college, when 
I, Monroe was elected. President.,of, the 
United States../ Asa speaker, Mr. Adams 
Was warm and) claquent ; and as, a writer 
hepassessed considerable poyyer,, Ln Aast, 
hejpublished, .in, three volumes 8vo.,,, “4. A. 
Defence, of, the. Consntution, and Govern- 
mextiob the United, States,” anda new 
edjtion of that work appeared:injl794, un. 
_ der the title of “ History-of the, Erineipal 
- Republics in the World.” 
Biographical Memoirs of Eminent Persons. 
335 
Mr. Adams had been s9me time in a 
state of declining health. On the morning 
of his death he is said to have been aroused 
by the sound of the public rejoicings ; he 
inquired the cause of the ‘silutes, and was 
told that it was the 4th of fuly: he answer- 
ed—‘‘It is a great and glorious day.” 
These are said to have been his last words. 
About noon he became very il}, grew gra- 
dually worse, and at six o'clock expired. 
His remains were some days afterwards 
deposited in the family tomb. at Quincey, 
with every token of veneration, respect, 
and affection. His. private character is 
described as perfectly pure. ‘There was no 
christian or moral duty which he did not 
fulfil—he was one of the kindest of hus- 
bands and best of fathers. 
Thomas Jefferson was born on the 2d of 
Apuil 1743, according to some accounts 
in the cowity of Albemarle, at Shadwell, 
a country seat whieh now. belongs to lis 
grandson, within a short distance of Mon- 
ticello, and within halfa mile of his Ri- 
vannah mills; but, according to others, in 
Chesterfield county, Virginia. His family 
were amongst the earliest emigrants to 
Virginia ; of whieh colony his, grandfather, 
Thomas Jefferson, was,a native. His . 
father, Peter Jefferson, was commissioned, 
with Colonel Fry, to determine the boun- 
dary line between Virginia and North Ca- 
rolina, in the year 1747. 
Mr. Jetierson was educated in America, 
from which he was never absent before the 
time that he went to. Paris, in the capacity 
of envoy. ,, He, receiyed the. highest ho- 
nours at the college of William and Mary ; 
he studied Jaw under the celebrated George 
Wythe, Jate Chancellor of Virginie. Te 
applied himself closely ,to the, study. of 
geometry, geography, natural history, and, 
astronomy; and he was devotedly attached 
to literature and the fine arts, When he- 
came of age, in 1764, he was, put, into the 
nomination of justices of the county in. 
which he lived ; at the first election folow- 
ing he became one of its represe entatives in 
the legislature; and, before he attained his 
25th year, he was a distinguished member _ 
of the Virginia Assembly, end took an. ace 
tive part in all the measures adopted _ in 
opposition to the English goverment. In 
1775, he is said to have been the author of 
the protest against the propositions of Lord 
North... From the Assembly of Virginia 
he was sent. to the old Congress, which, 
brought about the rey: olution, and was there 
distinguished by the warmth of his senti- 
ments and the energy of his compositions. 
Aftenyvards he: was, emplo ed two years, 
with, Mr,,, Pendleton, ond te Wythe, in 
the ,xevisal apd anaucion to a single code 
of the whol body. of the English statutes, 
the, ,acts Di the, Virginia assembl. and 
certain, parts.of the. common ‘law, ., 180, 
(succeeding Patrick Hemy, the successor. 
of Lord Dunmore) he was elected Gover- 
