party and sectional considerations secondary to the honor and interest of
the nation--an example which no pure and high-minded statesman can
hesitate to follow.

The Legislature of Massachusetts disapproved the course of Mr. Adams. By a
small majority of Federal votes, it elected another person to take his
place in the Senate at the expiration of his term, and passed resolutions
instructing its Senators in Congress to oppose the measures of Mr.
Jefferson. Mr. Adams could not, consistently with his views of duty, obey
these instructions; and having no disposition to represent a body whose
confidence he did not retain, he resigned his seat in the Senate, in
March, 1808.

Although Mr. Adams gave most of his days to the service of his country,
yet he was fond of literary pursuits, and acquired, during his hours of
relaxation from sterner duties, a vast fund of classic lore and useful
learning. At an early day, he had become distinguished as a ripe scholar,
and an impressive, dignified, and eloquent public speaker. His reputation
for literary and scholastic attainments quite equalled his fame as a
politician and statesman.

In 1804, on the death of President Willard, Mr. Adams was urged by several
influential individuals, to be a candidate for the presidency of Cambridge
University. He declined the proffered honor. During the following year,
however, he was appointed Professor of Rhetoric and Belles Lettres, in
that institution. He accepted the office, on condition that he should be
allowed to discharge its duties at such times as his services in Congress
would permit. His inaugural address, on entering the professorship, was
delivered on the 12th of June, 1806. His lectures on rhetoric and oratory
were very popular. They were attended by large crowds from Boston and the