merica, America, our country,
fellow-citizens, our own dear and native land, is inseparably connected,
fast bound up, in fortune and by fate, with these great interests. If they
fall, we fall with them; if they stand, it will be because we have
upholden them. Let us contemplate, then, this connection, which binds the
prosperity of others to our own; and let us manfully discharge all the
duties which it imposes. If we cherish the virtues and the principles of
our fathers, heaven will assist us to carry on the work of human liberty,
and human happiness. Auspicious omens cheer us: great examples are before
us: our own firmament now shines brightly upon our path: WASHINGTON is in
the clear upper sky. These other stars have now joined the American
constellation; they circle around their centre, and the heavens beam with
a new light. Beneath this illumination, let us walk the course of life,
and at its close devoutly commend our beloved country, the common parent
of us all, to the Divine Benignity."

During this visit at the East, at this time, President J. Q. Adams
attended the annual examination of the public schools in Boston, and was
present at the public dinner given in Faneuil Hall, to the school
committee, teachers, and most meritorious scholars. In reply to a
complimentary toast from the Mayor, Mr. Adams responded as follows:--

"MR. MAYOR, AND MY FELLOW-CITIZENS OF BOSTON:--A few days since, we were
assembled in this Hall, as the house of mourning--in commemoration of the
two last survivors of that day which had proclaimed at once our
independence and our existence as a nation. We are now assembled within
the same walls, at the house of feasting--at the festival of fathers
rejoicing in the progressive improvement of their children.

"We have been told by the wisest man of antiquity, that it is better to go
to the house of mourning, than to the house of feasting. How emphatically
true would that sentence be, if the house of mourning were always such as
this hall but so recently exhibited!--a mourning of gratitude--a mourning
of faithful affection--a mourning full of consolation and joy. And yet,
could the wisest of men now look down upon this happy meeting--of parents
partaking together of the bounties of Providence, in mutual gratulation
with each other at the advances of their offspring in moral and
intellectual cultivation--would he, could he, my friends, have said that
it is better to go to the house of mourning