Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume I.djvu/117

 JOHN ADAMS 97 Washington and Adams, till dismissed from office by the latter ; but though Mr. Jefferson was also severely handled in them, they occa- sioned no new interruption to the friendly correspondence for some years reestablished between him and Adams. Those two leading actors in American politics, at first so coop- erative and afterward so hostile, again reunited in friendly intercourse, having outlived almost all their fellow actors, continued to descend hand in hand to the grave. Adams lived to see his son president and to receive Jefferson's congratulations upon it. By a remarkable coincidence, they both expired on the 50th anniversary of that declaration of indepen- dence in which they had both taken so active a part, Adams, however, being the survivor by a few hours. Of Adams's personal appear- ance and domestic character in his old age, his grandson gives the following account: " In figure John Adams was not tall, scarcely exceeding middle height, but of a stout, well knit frame, denoting vigor and long life, yet as he grew old inclining more and more to corpulence. His head was large and round, with a wide forehead and expanded brows. His eye was mild and benignant, perhaps even humorous when he was free from emotion, but when excited it fully expressed the vehe- mence of the spirit that stirred within. His presence was grave and imposing on serious occasions, but not unbending. He delighted in social conversation, in which he was some- times tempted to what he called rhodomon- tade. But he seldom fatigued those who heard him ; for he mixed so much of natural vigor of fancy and illustration with the store of his acquired knowledge, as to keep alive their interest for a long time. His affections were warm, though not habitually demon- strated toward his relatives. His anger, when thoroughly aroused, was for a time extremely violent, but when it subsided it left no trace of malevolence behind. Nobody could see him intimately without admiring the sim- plicity and truth which shone in his actions, and standing in some awe of the power and energy of his will. It was in these moments that he impressed those around him with a sense of his greatness. Even the men em- ployed on his farm were in the habit of citing instances, some of which have been remem- bered down to the present day. At times his vehemence would become so great as to make him overbearing and unjust. This was most apt to happen in cases of pretension and any kind of wrong-doing. Mr. Adams was very impatient of cant, or of opposition to any of his deeply established convictions. Neither was his indignation at all graduated to the character of the individuals who might happen to excite it. It had little respect of persons, and would hold an illiterate man or a raw boy to as heavy a responsibility for uttering a crude heresy as the strongest thinker or the most profound scholar." The same writer 8 VOL. i. 8 makes the following remarks on his general character : u His nature was too susceptible to emotions of sympathy and kindness, for it tempted him to trust more than was prudent in the professions of some who proved un- worthy of his confidence. Ambitious in one sense he certainly was, but it was not the mere aspiration for place or power. It was a desire to excel in the minds of men by the development of high qualities, the love, in short, of an honorable fame, that stirred him to exult in the rewards of popular favor. Yet this passion never tempted him to change a course of action or to suppress a serious con- viction, to bend to a prevailing error or to disavow one odious truth." This last assertion involves soine controverted points of history ; yet this at least must be granted, that it may be made with far more plausibility of Mr. Adams than of the greater portion of political men. The pecuniary independence which previous to his retirement Mr. Adams had secured by a judicious adaptation of his ex- penditures to his income, more fortunate than Mr. Jefferson, he maintained till the end of his life. Although he had a large family, in- cluding grandchildren and great-grandchil- dren, dependent upon him, he yet died in the possession of a valuable landed estate. See "Life and Works of John Adams," by Charles Francis Adams (10 vols. 8vo, Boston, 1850- '56), and "Life of John Adams," by J. Q. and C. F. Adams (2 vols. 8vo, 1871). ADAMS, John, the assumed name of ALEX- ANDER SMITH, one of the mutineers of the British ship Bounty, born in London in 1764, died on Pitcairn island, March 29, 1829. In 1787 he joined the Bounty as a common sailor, and was one of those who revolted against Lieut. Bligh on April 28, 1789. (See BLIGH, WILLIAM.) On Jan. 23, 1790, after various adventures, Adams landed with the other mutineers and a number of Tahitian men and women on Pitcairn island, where he spent the rest of his life. In 1800 he found himself the sole surviving Englishman, and the only guardian and teacher of a community of women and children. He organized divine service according to the forms of the church of England, and acted also as a schoolmaster. In 1808, when Capt. Mayhew Folger, of the American ship Topaz, landed on the island, Adams gave him an account of the feuds among his companions and the Tahitian men and women, ending in the violent death of all except himself and Young. Capt. Folger, in return, gave him a rapid sketch of the great events of the preceding 20 years, all of which were entirely new to him. The captain's report of this extraordinary meeting with Adams bore testimony to the excellent moral and religious training of the little community, and was accompanied by the chronometer and azimuth compass of the Bounty, presented to him by Adams. It was after the visit of Capt. Folger that he changed his real name of