residency was
unprecedented in the history of the country.

Adams's principal opponent was Andrew Jackson, a mighty man of whom we
shall soon have occasion to speak, and so close was the contest that the
electoral college was not able to make a choice. So, as provided by the
Constitution, it was carried to the House of Representatives, and there,
through the influence of Henry Clay, who was unfriendly to Jackson,
Adams was chosen by a small majority. An administration which began in
bitterness, continued bitter and turbulent. Men's passions were aroused,
and four years later Adams repeated the fate of his father, in being
overwhelmingly defeated.

But the most remarkable portion of his story is yet to come. Before that
time, it had been the custom, as we have seen, for the ex-President to
spend the remaining years of his life in dignified retirement; but the
year after Adams left the White House, he was elected to the House of
Representatives, and was returned regularly every two years until his
death, which occurred upon its floor. He did much excellent work there,
and was conspicuous in more than one memorable scene, but he is chiefly
remembered for his battle for the right of petition. No more
persistent fight was ever made by a man in a parliamentary body and some
reference must be made to it here.

Soon after he took his seat in Congress, the movement against slavery
was begun, and one fruit of it was the appearance of petitions for the
abolition of slavery in the House of Representatives. A few were
presented by Mr. Adams, and then more and more, as they were sent in to
him, and finally the southern representatives became so aroused, that
they succeeded in passing what was known as the "gag rule," which
prevented the reception of these petitions by the House. Adams protested
against this rule as an invasion of his constitutional rights, and from
that time forward, amid the bitterest opposition, addressed his whole
force toward the vindication of the right of petition. On every petition
day, he would offer, in constantly increasing numbers, petitions which
came to him from all parts of the country for the abolition of slavery.
The southern representatives were driven almost to madness, but Adams
kept doggedly on his way, and every year renewed his motion to strike
out the gag rule. As constant dripping will wear away a stone, so his
persistence wore away opposition, or, rather, the sentiment of the
country was g