“‘As far as I am capable of judging, Mr. President,’ I replied, ’the people appear to be unanimous in the opinion that there is a misunderstanding, a misapprehension, between you and Mr. Adams; for no one imagines, for a moment, that either of you would misrepresent facts!  Mr. Adams is a man of infinite method; he is generally accurate, and, in this instance, it appears that he is sustained by his diary.’

“‘His diary! don’t tell’ me anything more about his diary!  Sir, that diary comes up on all occasions—­one would think that its pages were as immutable as the laws of the Medes and Persians!  Sir, that diary will be the death of me!  I wonder if James Monroe kept a diary!  If he did, it is to be hoped that it will be looked to, to see if it contains anything about this Adams and Dan Onis treaty.  Sir, I did not see it; I was not consulted about it.’

“The old hero was exceedingly vehement, and was proceeding to descant with especial violence, when he was interrupted by the entrance of Mr. Secretary Woodbury, and I never heard another word about the matter.  A question of veracity between the parties was raised, and was never adjudicated.  Both went down to the grave before any definite light was cast on the subject; but the world had decided that General Jackson was in error.” [Footnote:  Reminiscences of the late John Quincy Adams, by an Old Colony Man.]

CHAPTER XIII.

Mr. Adams presents petitions for the abolishment of slavery—­opposition of southern members—­exciting scenes in the house of representatives—­ marks of confidence in Mr. Adams.

In the meantime, during the years 1836 and 1837, the public mind in the Northern States, became fully aroused to the enormities of American slavery—­its encroachments on the rights and interests of the free States—­the undue influence it was exercising in our national councils—­and the evident determination to enlarge its borders and its evils, by the addition of new and large territories.  Petitions for the abolition of slavery and the slave trade in the District of Columbia and the Territories, began to pour into Congress, from every section of the East and North.  These were generally presented by Mr. Adams.  His age and experience—­his well-known influence in the House of Representatives—­his patriotism, and his intrepid advocacy of human freedom—­inspired the confidence of the people of the free States, and led them to entrust to him their petitions.  With scrupulous fidelity he performed the duty thus imposed upon him.  Whoever petitions might come from—­whatever the nature of their prayer—­whether for such objects as he could sanction or not—­if they were clothed in respectful language, Mr. Adams felt himself under an imperative obligation to present them to Congress.  For several sessions at this period, few days passed without his presenting more or less petitions having some relation to the subject of slavery.