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Front Page  Titles (by Subject) TO MESSRS. JACOB B. TAYLOR, JOHN YATES CEBRA, STUART F. RANDOLPH, R. RIKER, AND HENRY ARCULARIUS, A COMMITTEE OF ARRANGEMENTS OF THE CITY CORPORATION OF NEW YORK. - The Works of John Adams, vol. 10 (Letters 1811-1825, Indexes)
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TO MESSRS. JACOB B. TAYLOR, JOHN YATES CEBRA, STUART F. RANDOLPH, R. RIKER, AND HENRY ARCULARIUS, A COMMITTEE OF ARRANGEMENTS OF THE CITY CORPORATION OF NEW YORK. - John Adams, The Works of John Adams, vol. 10 (Letters 1811-1825, Indexes) [1854]Edition used:The Works of John Adams, Second President of the United States: with a Life of the Author, Notes and Illustrations, by his Grandson Charles Francis Adams (Boston: Little, Brown and Co., 1856). 10 volumes. Vol. 10.
Part of: The Works of John Adams, 10 vols.
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TO MESSRS. JACOB B. TAYLOR, JOHN YATES CEBRA, STUART F. RANDOLPH, R. RIKER, AND HENRY ARCULARIUS, A COMMITTEE OF ARRANGEMENTS OF THE CITY CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.Quincy, 10 June, 1826. Gentlemen,—Your very polite and cordial letter of invitation, written to me in behalf of the city corporation of New York, has been gratefully received through the kindness of General J. Morton. The anniversary you propose to celebrate, “with increased demonstrations of respect,” in which you invite me to participate in person, is an event sanctioned by fifty years of experience, and it will become memorable by its increasing age, in proportion as its success shall demonstrate the blessings it imparts to our beloved country, and the maturity it may attain in the progress of time. Not these United States alone, but a mighty continent, the last discovered, but the largest quarter of the globe, is destined to date the period of its birth and emancipation from the 4th of July, 1776. Visions of future bliss in prospect, for the better condition of the human race, resulting from this unparalleled event, might be indulged, but sufficient unto the day be the glory thereof; and while you, gentlemen of the committee, indulge with your fellow-citizens of the city of New York in demonstrations of joy and effusions of hilarity worthy the occasion, the wonderful growth of the State, whose capital you represent, within the lapse of half a century, cannot fail to convince you that the indulgence of enthusiastic views of the future must be stamped with any epithet other than visionary. I thank you, gentlemen, with much sincerity for the kind invitation with which you have honored me, to assist in your demonstrations of respect for the day and all who honor it. And in default of my personal attendance, give me leave to propose as a sentiment for the occasion, Long and lasting prosperity to the City and State of New York! I am, &c.John Adams. APPENDIX.(A.)In the month of August, 1821, the Cadets of the United States Military Academy, under the command of Major Worth, paid a visit to Boston. One day was devoted by them to an excursion to the seat of Mr. Adams at Quincy. They were received by him, drawn up before the portico in front of his house, and in a voice then much broken with age, he made them the following address:— My young Fellow-Citizens and Fellow-Soldiers,— I rejoice that I live to see so fine a collection of the future defenders of their country in pursuit of honor under the auspices of the national government. A desire of distinction is implanted by nature in every human bosom, and the general sense of mankind, in all ages and countries, cultivated and uncultivated, has excited, encouraged, and applauded this passion in military men more than in any other order of society. Military glory is esteemed the first and greatest of glories. As your profession is at least as solemn and sacred as any in human life, it behooves you seriously to consider, what is glory? There is no real glory in this world or any other but such as arises from wisdom and benevolence. There can be no solid glory among men but that which springs from equity and humanity; from the constant observance of prudence, temperance, justice, and fortitude. Battles, victories, and conquests, abstracted from their only justifiable object and end, which is justice and peace, are the glory of fraud, violence, and usurpation. What was the glory of Alexander and Cæsar? “The glimmering” which those “livid flames” in Milton “cast, pale and dreadful,” or “the sudden blaze,” which “far round illumin’d Hell.” Different—far different is the glory of Washington and his faithful colleagues! Excited by no ambition of conquest or avaricious desire of wealth; irritated by no jealousy, envy, malice, or revenge; prompted only by the love of their country, by the purest patriotism and philanthropy, they persevered, with invincible constancy, in defence of their country, her fundamental laws, her natural, essential and inalienable rights and liberties, against the lawless and ruthless violence of tyranny and usurpation. The biography of these immortal captains, and the history of their great actions, you will read and ruminate night and day. You need not investigate antiquity, or travel into foreign countries, to find models of excellence in military commanders, without a stain of ambition or avarice, tyranny, cruelty, or oppression towards friends or enemies. In imitation of such great examples, in the most exalted transports of your military ardor, even in the day of battle, you will be constantly overawed by a conscious sense of the dignity of your characters as men, as American citizens, and as Christians. I congratulate you on the great advantages you possess for attaining eminence in letters and science, as well as in arms. These advantages are a precious deposit, which you ought to consider as a sacred trust, for which you are responsible to your country and to a higher tribunal. These advantages, and the habits you have acquired, will qualify you for any course of life you may choose to pursue. That I may not fatigue you with too many words, allow me to address every one of you in the language of a Roman dictator to his master of the horse, after a daring and dangerous exploit for the safety of his country, “Macte virtute esto.” DIRECTIONS TO THE BINDER.
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