h influence as Mr. Adams could exert by steadfastness and (p. 232)
argument entirely unweakened by suspicion of hidden motives or
personal ends. He had the weight and enjoyed the respect which a
sincerity beyond distrust must always command in the long run. Of this
we shall see some striking instances.

One important limitation, however, belongs to this statement of
solitariness. It was confined to his position in Congress. Outside of
the city of Washington great numbers of the people, especially in New
England, lent him a hearty support and regarded him with friendship
and admiration. These men had strong convictions and deep feelings,
and their adherence counted for much. Moreover, their numbers steadily
increased, and Mr. Adams saw that he was the leader in a cause which
engaged the sound sense and the best feeling of the intelligent people
of the country, and which was steadily gaining ground. Without such
encouragement it is doubtful whether even his persistence would have
held out through so long and extreme a trial. The sense of human
fellowship was needful to him; he could go without it in Congress, but
he could not have gone without it altogether.

Mr. Adams took his seat in the House as a member of the twenty-second
Congress in December, 1831. He had been elected by the National
Republican, afterward better known as the Whig party, but one of (p. 233)
his first acts was to declare that he would be bound by no partisan
connection, but would in every matter act independently. This course
he regarded as a "duty imposed upon him by his peculiar position," in
that he "had spent the greatest portion of his life in the service of
the whole nation and had been honored with their highest trust." Many
persons had predicted that he would find himself subjected to
embarrassments and perhaps to humiliations by reason of his apparent
descent in the scale of political dignities. He notes, however, that
he encountered no annoyance on this score, but on the contrary he was
rather treated with an especial respect. He was made chairman of the
Committee on Manufactures, a laborious as well as an important and
honorable position at all times, and especially so at this juncture
when the rebellious mutterings of South Carolina against the
protective tariff were already to be heard rolling and swelling like
portentous thunder from the fiery Southern regions. He would have
preferred to exchange this post for a place upon the