'Like the moonbeams on the blasted heath,
Mocking its desolation.'

"Gentlemen, in conclusion, I beg to express the delight which I feel, and
propose to you as a toast--May the United States be an example to the
world; and may civil and religious liberty cover the earth, as the waters
do the channels of the deep."

A public dinner was also given Mr. Adams on his arrival in Boston. Mr.
Gray presided, and Messrs. Otis, Blake, and Mason, acted as Vice
Presidents. His father, the venerable ex-President John Adams, was present
as a guest. Among other toasts given on the occasion, were the
following:--

"The United States.--May our public officers, abroad and at home, continue
to be distinguished for integrity, talents, and patriotism."

"The Commissioners at Ghent.--The negotiations for peace have been
declared, in the British House of Lords, to wear the stamp of American
superiority."

"American Manufactures.--A sure and necessary object for the security of
American independence."

This occasion must have been one of great interest to the patriarch John
Adams, then more than four-score years of age. Nearly forty years before,
he had said of his son:--"He behaves like a man!" That son, in the prime
of his days, had recently been called from foreign service, where he had
obtained accumulated honors, to fill the highest station in the gift of