during his residence in
London, as a statesman of unsurpassed general information, and critical
knowledge of the politics of the world, was retained for years afterwards.
Mr. Rush, who was subsequently Minister to Great Britain, in an account of
a dinner party at Lord Castlereagh's, notes a corroborating incident: "At
table, I had on my left the Saxon Minister, Baron Just. * * * * * * He
inquired of me for Mr. Adams, whom he had known well, and of whom he spoke
highly. He said that he knew the politics of all Europe." [Footnote:
Rush's Residence at the Court of London.]

"It was while Mr. Adams was Minister of the United States in London, that
it was my personal good fortune to be admitted to his intimacy and
friendship. Being then in London on private business, and having some
previous acquaintance with Mr. Adams, I found in his house an ever kind
welcome, and in his intercourse and conversation unfailing attraction and
improvement. Accustomed as he had been from earliest youth to the society
of the most eminent persons in Europe, alike in station and in ability,
Mr. Adams never lost the entire simplicity of his own habits and
character. Under an exterior of, at times, almost repulsive coldness,
dwelt a heart as warm, sympathies as quick, and affections as overflowing,
as ever animated any bosom. His tastes, too, were all refined. Literature
and art were familiar and dear to him, and hence it was that his society
was at once so agreeable and so improving. At his hospitable board, I have
listened to disquisitions from his lips on poetry, especially the dramas
of Shakspeare, music, painting, sculpture--of rare excellence, and
untiring interest. The extent of his knowledge, indeed, and its accuracy,
in all branches, were not less remarkable than the complete command which
he appeared to possess over all his varied stores of learning and
information. A critical scholar, alike in the dead languages, in French,
in German, in Italian, not less than in English--he could draw at will
from the wealth of all these tongues to illustrate any particular topic,
or to explain any apparent difficulty. There was no literary work of merit
in any of these languages, of which he could not render a satisfactory
account; there was no fine painting or statue, of which he did not know
the details and the history; there was not even an opera, or a celebrated
musical composer, of which or of whom he could not point out the
distinguishing merits