creed related to one set of issues, the later
Federalist creed to quite another set; the earlier creed was sound and
deserving of support; the later creed was not so. It is easy to see,
as one looks backward upon history, that every great and successful
party has its mission, that it wins its success through the substantial
righteousness of that mission, and that it owes its downfall to
assuming an erroneous attitude towards some subsequent matter which
becomes in turn of predominating importance. Sometimes, though rarely,
a party remains on the right side through two or even more successive
issues of profound consequence to the nation. The Federalist mission
was to establish the Constitution of the United States as a (p. 060)
vigorous, efficient, and practical system of government, to prove its
soundness, safety, and efficacy, and to defend it from the undermining
assaults of those who distrusted it and would have reduced it to
imbecility. Supplementary and cognate to this was the further task of
giving the young nation and the new system a chance to get fairly
started in life before being subjected to the strain of war and
European entanglements. To this end it was necessary to hold in check
the Jeffersonian or French party, who sought to embroil us in a
foreign quarrel. These two functions of the Federalist party were
quite in accord; they involved the organizing and domestic instinct
against the disorganizing and meddlesome; the strengthening against
the enfeebling process; practical thinking against fanciful theories.
Fortunately the able men had been generally of the sound persuasion,
and by powerful exertions had carried the day and accomplished their
allotted tasks so thoroughly that all subsequent generations of
Americans have been reaping the benefit of their labors. But by the
time that John Adams had concluded his administration the great
Federalist work had been sufficiently done. Those who still believe
that there is an overruling Providence in the affairs of men and
nations may well point to the history of this period in support (p. 061)
of their theory. Republicanism was not able to triumph till Federalism
had fulfilled all its proper duty and was on the point of going wrong.

During this earlier period John Quincy Adams had been a Federalist by
conviction as well as by education. Nor was there any obvious reason
for him to change his political faith with the change of party
success, brought a