was then accredited as an
envoy to Russia from the United States, and he took Mr. Adams with him
as his private secretary. Not much came of the mission, but it was a
valuable experience for a lad of his years. Upon his return he spent
six months in travel and then he rejoined his father in Paris, where
that gentleman was engaged with Franklin and John Jay in negotiating
the final treaty of peace between the revolted colonies and the mother
country. The boy "was at once enlisted in the service as an additional
secretary, and gave his help to the preparation of the papers
necessary to the completion of that instrument which dispersed all
possible doubt of the Independence of his Country."

On April 26, 1785, arrived the packet-ship Le Courier de L'Orient, (p. 014)
bringing a letter from Mr. Gerry containing news of the appointment of
John Adams as Minister to St. James's. This unforeseen occurrence made
it necessary for the younger Adams to determine his own career, which
apparently he was left to do for himself. He was indeed a singular
young man, not unworthy of such confidence! The glimpses which we get
of him during this stay abroad show him as the associate upon terms of
equality with grown men of marked ability and exercising important
functions. He preferred diplomacy to dissipation, statesmen to
mistresses, and in the midst of all the temptations of the gayest
capital in the world, the chariness with which he sprinkled his wild
oats amid the alluring gardens chiefly devoted to the culture of those
cereals might well have brought a blush to the cheeks of some among
his elders, at least if the tongue of slander wags not with gross
untruth concerning the colleagues of John Adams. But he was not in
Europe to amuse himself, though at an age when amusement is natural
and a tinge of sinfulness is so often pardoned; he was there with the
definite and persistent purpose of steady improvement and acquisition.
At his age most young men play the cards which a kind fortune puts
into their hands, with the reckless intent only of immediate gain, (p. 015)
but from the earliest moment when he began the game of life Adams
coolly and wisely husbanded every card which came into his hand, with
a steady view to probable future contingencies, and with the resolve
to win in the long run. So now the resolution which he took in the
present question illustrated the clearness of his mind and the
strength of his character. To go with his fat