ette advanced
and took President Adams in his arms, while tears poured down his
venerable cheeks. Retiring a few paces, he was overcome by his feelings,
and again returned, and falling on the neck of Mr. Adams, exclaimed in
broken accents, "God bless you!" It was a scene at once solemn and moving,
as the sighs and tears of many who witnessed it bore testimony. Having
recovered his self-possession, the General stretched out his hands, and
was in a moment surrounded by the greetings of the whole assembly, who
pressed upon him, each eager to seize, perhaps for the last time, that
beloved hand which was opened so freely for our aid when aid was so
precious, and which grasped with firm and undeviating hold the steel which
so bravely helped to achieve our deliverance. The expression which now
beamed from the face of this exalted man was of the finest and most
touching kind. The hero was lost in the father and the friend. Dignity
melted into subdued affection, and the friend of Washington seemed to
linger with a mournful delight among the sons of his adopted country.

A considerable period was then occupied in conversing with various
individuals, while refreshments were presented to the company. The moment
of departure at length arrived; and having once more pressed the hand of
Mr. Adams, he entered the barouche, accompanied by the Secretaries of
State, of the Treasury, and of the Navy, and passed from the capital of
the Union. An immense procession accompanied him to the banks of the
Potomac, where the steamboat Mount Vernon awaited to convey him down the
river to the frigate Brandywine. The whole scene--the peals of artillery,
the sounds of numerous military bands, the presence of the vast concourse
of people, and the occasion that assembled them, produced emotions not
easily described, but which every American heart can readily conceive. As
the steamboat moved off, the deepest silence was observed by the whole
multitude that lined the shore. The feelings that pervaded them was that
of children bidding farewell to a venerated parent.

When the boat came opposite the tomb of Washington, at Mount Vernon, it
paused in its progress. La Fayette arose. The wonders which he had
performed, for a man of his age, in successfully accomplishing labors
enough to have tested his meridian vigor, whose animation rather resembled
the spring than the winter of life, now seemed unequal to the task he was
about to perform--to take a last look a