All gathered round the sufferer, and the strong sympathy and deep feeling which were manifested, showed that the business of the House (which was instantly adjourned) was forgotten amid the distressing anxieties of the moment.  He was soon removed to the apartment of the Speaker, where he remained surrounded by afflicted friends till the weary clay resigned its immortal spirit.  ’This is the end of earth!’ Brief but emphatic words.  They were among the last uttered by the dying Christian.”

When Mr. Davis had concluded his remarks, Mr. Benton, of Missouri, delivered a most beautiful eulogy on the character of Mr. Adams.  He said:—­

“Mr. President:  The voice of his native State has been heard through one of the Senators of Massachusetts, announcing the death of her aged and most distinguished son.  The voice of the other Senator, (Mr. Webster,) is not heard, nor is his presence seen.  A domestic calamity, known to us all, and felt by us all, confines him to the chamber of private grief, while the Senate is occupied with the public manifestations of a respect and sorrow which a national loss inspires.  In the absence of that Senator, and as the member of this body longest here, it is not unfitting or unbecoming in me to second the motion which has been made for extending the last honors of the Senate to him who, forty-five years ago, was a member of this body, who, at the time of his death, was among the oldest members of the House of Representatives, and who, putting the years of his service together, was the oldest of all the members of the American Government.

“The eulogium of Mr. Adams is made in the facts of his life, which the Senator from Massachusetts (Mr. Davis) has so strikingly stated, that, from early manhood to octogenarian age, he has been constantly and most honorably employed in the public service.  For a period of more than fifty years, from the time of his first appointment as Minister abroad under Washington, to his last election to the House of Representatives by the people of his native district, he has been constantly retained in the public service, and that, not by the favor of a Sovereign, or by hereditary title, but by the elections and appointments of republican Government.  This fact makes the eulogy of the illustrious deceased.  For what, except a union of all the qualities which command the esteem and confidence of man, could have ensured a public service so long, by appointments free and popular, and from sources so various and exalted?  Minister many times abroad; member of this body; member of the House of Representatives; cabinet Minister; President of the United States; such has been the galaxy of his splendid appointments.  And what but moral excellence the most perfect—­intellectual ability the most eminent—­ fidelity the most unwavering—­service the most useful, could have commanded such a succession of appointments so exalted, and from sources so various and so eminent?  Nothing less could have commanded such a series of appointments; and accordingly we see the union of all these great qualities in him who has received them.