It has hardly been possible since his day.

Chosen as a Democrat in 1825, Mr. Adams was really the first Whig
President. His speeches are important, historically, because they
define political tendencies as a result of which the Whig party took
the place of the Federalist.


ORATION AT PLYMOUTH

(Delivered at Plymouth on the Twenty-Second Day of December, 1802,
in Commemoration of the Landing of the Pilgrims)

Among the sentiments of most powerful operation upon the human
heart, and most highly honorable to the human character, are those
of veneration for our forefathers, and of love for our posterity.

They form the connecting links between the selfish and the social
passions. By the fundamental principle of Christianity, the
happiness of the individual is interwoven, by innumerable and
imperceptible ties, with that of his contemporaries. By the power
of filial reverence and parental affection, individual existence is
extended beyond the limits of individual life, and the happiness of
every age is chained in mutual dependence upon that of every other.
Respect for his ancestors excites, in the breast of man, interest in
their history, attachment to their characters, concern for their
errors, involuntary pride in their virtues. Love for his posterity
spurs him to exertion for their support, stimulates him to virtue
for their example, and fills him with the tenderest solicitude for
their welfare. Man, therefore, was not made for himself alone. No,