be removed as soon as the term for which he had been elected had expired.  But entreaties and threats were alike of no avail.  Even Clay could not get the removal of a naval officer guilty of unbecoming conduct.  In his zeal for nonpartizanship Adams fairly leaned backwards, with the result that incompetents were shielded and the offices were left in the hands of men who, in a very large number of cases, were openly hostile to the President and to his policies.

“Less possessed of your confidence in advance than any of my predecessors,” wrote Adams in his first message to Congress, “I am deeply conscious of the prospect that I shall stand more and oftener in need of your indulgence.”  In the principles and measures which he urged upon the legislative branch, none the less, he showed small regard for moderation or expediency.  He defined the object of government to be the improvement of the condition of the people, and he refused to recognize in the federal Constitution restrictions which would prevent the national authorities from fulfilling this function in the highest degree.  He urged not only the building of roads and canals but the establishment of a national university, the support of observatories, “the light-houses of the skies,” and the exploration of the interior and of the far northwestern parts of the country.  He advocated heavy protective duties on goods imported from abroad, and asked Congress to pass laws not alone for the betterment of agriculture, manufactures, and trade but for the “encouragement of the mechanic and of the elegant arts, the advancement of literature, and the progress of the sciences, ornamental and profound.”  He thought that the public lands should be sold at the highest prices they would bring and that the money should be used by the Government to promote the general welfare.  He had no doubt of either the power or the duty of the Government to maintain a national bank.

Since the War of 1812 the Republicans, with whom Adams had been numbered, had inclined strongly toward a liberal construction of the Constitution, but none had gone to the limits marked out in this program.  Besides, a strong reaction was now setting in.  The President’s recommendations were received in some quarters with astonishment, in some rather with amusement.  Nowhere were they regarded, in their entirety, with favor.  Even Clay—­spokesman of nationalism though he was—­could not follow his chief in his untrammeled flights.  Men still widely believed that, the National Government ought to spend money freely on highways, canals, and other improvements.  But by his bold avowals Adams characteristically threw away support for both himself and his cause; and the era of federal initiative and management was thus hastened toward its close.