ADAMS ADAM'S PEAK. 



31 



ing an examination In detail. It was passed on the 

 4th of the same month, as prepared by Mr Jefferson, 

 with only a few alterations, which were made through 

 a prudent deference to the views of some of the states. 

 Mr A. always preferred the draught as it originally 

 stood. The declaration was not adopted without 

 serious opposition from many members of the con- 

 gress, including John Dickinson, one of the ablest 

 men in that assembly. But their arguments were 

 completely overthrown by the force and eloquence 

 of Mr A., whose speech on the subject of indepen- 

 dence is said to have been unrivalled. Mr Jefferson 

 himself has affirmed, " that the great pillar of sup- 

 port to the declaration of independence, and its ablest 

 advocate and champion on the floor of the house, was 

 John Adams." Speaking of his general character 

 as an orator, the same illustrious man observed, that 

 he was " the Colossus of that congress : not graceful, 

 not elegant, not always fluent in his public addresses, 

 he yet came out with a power, both of thought and 

 expression which moved his hearers from their seats." 

 The year following this great measure, Mr A. pro- 

 ceeded with Dr Franklin to the court of France, in 

 order to negotiate a treaty of peace and alliance. He 

 was afterwards nominated plenipotentiary to Hol- 

 land, and materially contributed to hasten a rupture 

 between the United Provinces and Great Britain. 

 After serving on two or three commissions to form 

 treaties of amity and commerce with foreign powers, 

 Mr A. in 1785, was appointed the first minister to 

 London. In 1787, whilst in London, he published 

 his Defence of the American Constitutions, and in 

 the same year, by his own request, he was allowed 

 to return to the United States. Immediately after 

 his return, he was elected the first vice-president of 

 the United States under the new constitution, and 

 re-elected as such in 1793. He discharged the du- 

 ties of his office until March 4, 1797, when he suc- 

 ceeded to the presidency, vacated by the resignation 

 of general Washington. This great man's confidence 

 he possessed in an eminent degree, and was con- 

 sulted by him as often as any member of the cabinet. 

 Mr A. was the founder of the American navy. Be- 

 fore his administration, scarcely an American ship of 

 war was to be seen upon the ocean ; but, during this 

 period, by his strenuous exertions, mainly, a very 

 respectable naval force was created. His adminis- 

 tration, however, was not of long continuance, hav- 

 ing pleased neither of the two great parties which 

 divided the country, his, measures being too strong 

 for the democrats and too weak for the federalists. 

 In consequence of this, after his term of four years 

 had expired, March 4, 1801, Mr Jefferson succeeded 

 him, and he retired from public life. At his farm in 

 Quincy, he occupied himself with agricultural pur- 

 suits, obtaining amusement from the literature and 

 politics of the day. He was nominated as governor 

 of Massachusetts, but declined being a candidate, 

 wishing only for repose. During the disputes with 

 England, which occurred while Mr Jefferson was in 

 office, Mr A. published a series of letters, in a Boston 

 paper, supporting the policy of the administration. 

 His published writings, besides those which we have 

 already mentioned, are "Discourses on Davila," 

 composed in 1790, while he was vice-president, and 

 printed in June and July of tliat year in the Gazette 

 of the United States. In 1816, Mr A. was chosen 

 a member of the electoral college, which voted for 

 the elevation of Mr Monroe to the presidency ; and, 

 the following year, sustained the greatest affliction 

 that he had evfcr been called upon to endure, by the 

 loss of his wife. On this occasion, he received a 

 beautiful letter of condolence from Mr Jefferson, 

 between whom and himseJf their former friendship, 

 interrupted for a time by the animosities of party, 



had been revived. In 1820, he was elected a mem- 

 ber of the convention, to revise the constitution of 

 his state, and chosen its president. This honour he 

 was constrained to decline, on account of his infirmi- 

 ties and great age, being then 85 years old ; but he 

 attended the convention as a member, and fulfilled 

 the duty incumbent upon him as such. After that, 

 his life glided away in uninterrupted tranquillity, un- 

 til the 4th of July, 1826, when he breathed his last. 

 What is very remarkable, he died on the same day 

 with the ex- president Jefferson, being the 50th yeai 

 of that American independence, which they had both 

 so great a share in advancing. 



ADAMS, Samuel, another remarkable man con- 

 nected with the American revolution. He was born 

 in Boston, September 27th, 1722, was educated at 

 Harvard college, and received its honours in 1740. 

 When he took the degree of master, in 1743, he 

 proposed the following question : " Whether it be 

 lawful to resist the supreme magistrate, if the com- 

 monwealth cannot be otherwise preserved?" He 

 maintained the affirmative and this collegiate exer- 

 cise furnished a very significant index to his subse- 

 quent political career. On leaving the university, 

 he engaged in the study of divinity, with the inten- 

 tion of becoming a clergyman, but did not pursue 

 his design. From his earliest youth, his attention 

 was drawn to political affairs, and he occupied himself, 

 both in conversation and writing, with the political 

 concerns of the day. He became so entirely a pub- 

 lic man, and discovered such a jealous, watchful, and 

 unyielding regard for popular rights, that he excited 

 the general attention of the patriotic party, and they 

 took the opportunity, in the year 1766, to place him 

 in the legislature. From that period till the close 

 of the revolutionary war, he was one of the most un- 

 wearied, efficient, and disinterested assertors of 

 American freedom and independence. He was one 

 of the signers of the declaration of 1776, which he 

 laboured most indefatigably and unhesitatingly to 

 bring forward. He was an active member of the 

 convention that formed the constitution of Massa- 

 chusetts ; and, after it went into effect, he was placed 

 in the senate of the state, and for several years pre- 

 sided over that body. In 1789, he was elected lieu- 

 tenant-governor, and held that office till 1794, when 

 he was chosen governor, and was annually re-elected 

 till 1797. He then retired from public life, and died 

 at his house in Winter street, Boston, October 2, 

 1803, in the 82d year of his age. 



ADAM'S APPLE is a kind of orange, the citrus cw- 

 rantium of Linnaeus. The same name is also given 

 to the protuberance in the fore part of the throat, 

 occasioned by the projection of the thyroid cartilage 

 of the larynx. This name originated from the tra- 

 dition, that a piece of the forbidden fruit, which 

 Adam ate, stuck in his throat, and occasioned the 

 swelling. 



ADAM'S PEAK ; the highest mountain in the island 

 of Ceylon, called by the inhabitants Ham-al-el. It 

 lies under GO 49' N. lat 80" 43' E. Ion., and can be 

 seen in clear weather, from sea, at a distance, of 

 150 miles. It has neither been measured, nor geo- 

 logically examined. The chief river of the island, 

 Mahavillagonga, the mouth of which forms, at Trin- 

 comalee, the best harbour in all India, has its source 

 in this mountain. It is considered sacred by the fol- 

 lowers of Buddha, many of whom make pilgrimages 

 to it. The betel-leaf is exchanged by them as a sign 

 of peace, for the purpose of strengthening the bnnds 

 of kindred, confyming friendships, and reconciling 

 enmities. A priest then blesses them on the sum- 

 mit, and enjoins them to live virtuously at home. 

 According to Davy, the road which leads to the sum- 

 mit, is, with all its windings, eight miles long, and in 



