subject he investigates and applauds, as "one of those attempts
to improve the condition of human kind, which, although it may
ultimately fail, deserves admiration, as approaching more nearly than
any other to the ideal perfection of uniformity in weights and
measures." After stating the difficulties which prevented other nations
from seconding the endeavors of France, Mr. Adams concludes this
elaborate treatise with the opinion that universal uniformity on the
subject can only be effected by a general convention, to which all the
nations of the world should be parties. Until such a general course of
measures be adopted, he regards it as inexpedient for the United States
to make any change in their present system. After an elaborate
enumeration of the regulations of the several states of the Union,
accompanied by voluminous documents, he concludes with proposing,
"first, to fix the standard with the partial uniformity of which it is
susceptible for the present, excluding all innovation. Second, to
consult with foreign nations for the future and ultimate establishment
of _permanent_ and _universal_ uniformity."

The Senate ordered six hundred copies of this report to be printed. But
its final suggestions were not made the subject of action in either
branch. A writer of the day said, with equal truth and severity, "It was
not noticed in Congress, where ability was wanting, or labor refused,
to understand it." As Mr. Adams was one of the candidates in the
approaching presidential election, party spirit was inclined to treat
with silence and neglect labors which it realized could not fail to
command admiration and approval. In England the merits of this report
were more justly appreciated. In 1834, Col. Pasley, royal engineer, in a
learned work on measures and money, acknowledged the benefits he had
derived from "an official report upon weights and measures, published
in 1821, by a distinguished American statesman, John Quincy Adams. This
author," he adds, "has thrown more light into the history of our old
English weights and measures _than all former writers on the subject_;
and his views of historical facts, even when occasionally in opposition
to the reports of our own parliamentary committees, appear to me most
correct. For my own part, I do not think I could have seen my way into
the history of English weights and measures in the feudal ages without
his guidance."

In the summer of 1821 Mr. Adams was apprized that ru