come forward; let him look around among statesmen and legislators, of this nation, and of that day; let him then select and name the man whom, by his pre-eminent talents, by his splendid services, by his ardent patriotism, by his all-embracing public spirit, by his fervid eloquence in behalf of the rights and liberties of mankind, and by his long experience in the affairs of the Union, foreign and domestic, a President of the United States, intent only upon the welfare and honor of his country, ought to have preferred to Henry clay.  Let him name the man, and then judge you, my fellow-citizens, of my motives.”

When Mr. Adams was on a tour in the western States, in the fall of 1843, in addressing the chairman of the committee of his reception, at Maysville, Kentucky, he said:  “I thank you, sir, for the opportunity you have given me of speaking of the great statesman who was associated with me in the administration of the General Government, at my earnest solicitation; who belongs not to Kentucky alone, but to the whole Union; and who is not only an honor to this State, and this nation, but to mankind.  The charges to which you refer, after my term of service had expired, and it was proper for me to speak, I denied before the whole country.  And I here reiterate and re-affirm that denial; and as I expect shortly to appear before my God, to answer for the conduct of my whole life, should these charges have found their way to the throne of eternal justice, I will in the presence of omnipotence pronounce them false.”

Before the world Mr. Clay and Mr. Adams stand acquitted of the calumny which their enemies endeavored, with an industry worthy a better cause, to heap upon them.  The history of their country will do them ample justice.  Their names shall stand upon its pages, illuminated by a well-earned fame for patriotism and faithful devotion to public interests, when those of their accusers will be lost in a merited oblivion.

Mr. Adams, having entered upon his duties as President of the United States, prosecuted them with all that diligence and industrious application which was one of the leading characteristics of his life.  Unawed by the opposition and the misrepresentations of his political enemies, and uncorrupted by the power and influence at his control, he pursued the even tenor of his way, having a single object in view, the promotion of the welfare of the people over whom he had been called to preside.

In the meantime, the heart of the nation was being stirred by old and valued reminiscences.  La Fayette,—­a hero of the revolution—­the companion of Washington—­whose blood had enriched American soil in defence of American freedom—­had expressed a wish to re-visit once more, before departing life, the scenes of his early struggles and well-earned glories.  This intimation was first given in the following letter to Col.  Willet, an old friend and fellow-soldier of La Fayette, who was then still living in New-York.