the prejudices of his contemporaries and to render concerning
him the judgment which he deserves. Never did a man of pure life and
just purposes have fewer friends or more enemies than John Quincy
Adams. His nature, said to have been very affectionate in his family
relations, was in its aspect outside of that small circle singularly
cold and repellent. If he could ever have gathered even a small
personal following his character and abilities would have insured him
a brilliant and prolonged success; but, for a man of his calibre (p. 012)
and influence, we shall see him as one of the most lonely and desolate
of the great men of history; instinct led the public men of his time
to range themselves against him rather than with him, and we shall
find them fighting beside him only when irresistibly compelled to do
so by policy or strong convictions. As he had little sympathy with
those with whom he was brought in contact, so he was very uncharitable
in his judgment of them; and thus having really a low opinion of so
many of them he could indulge his vindictive rancor without stint; his
invective, always powerful, will sometimes startle us by its venom,
and we shall be pained to see him apt to make enemies for a good cause
by making them for himself.

This has been, perhaps, too long a lingering upon the threshold. But
Mr. Adams's career in public life stretched over so long a period that
to write a full historical memoir of him within the limited space of
this volume is impossible. All that can be attempted is to present a
sketch of the man with a few of his more prominent surroundings
against a very meagre and insufficient background of the history of
the times. So it may be permissible to begin with a general outline of
his figure, to be filled in, shaded, and colored as we proceed. At
best our task is much more difficult of satisfactory achievement (p. 013)
than an historical biography of the customary elaborate order.

During his second visit to Europe, our mature youngster--if the word
may be used of Mr. Adams even in his earliest years--began to see a
good deal of the world and to mingle in very distinguished society.
For a brief period he got a little schooling, first at Paris, next at
Amsterdam, and then at Leyden; altogether the amount was
insignificant, since he was not quite fourteen years old when he
actually found himself engaged in a diplomatic career. Francis Dana,
afterward Chief Justice of Massachusetts,