e was
familiar with the classics, and several modern languages. In oratory,
rhetoric, and the various departments of belles lettres, his attainments
were of more than an ordinary character. His commentaries on Desdemona,
and others of Shakspeare's characters, show that he was no mean critic,
in the highest walks of literature, and in all that pertains to human
character.

The following interesting account of an interview with ex-President Adams,
by a southern gentleman, in 1834, affords some just conceptions of the
versatility of his genius, and the profoundness of his erudition:--

"Yesterday, accompanied by my friend T., I paid a visit to the venerable
ex-President, at his residence in Quincy. A violent rain setting in as
soon as we arrived, gave us from five to nine o'clock to listen to the
learning of this man of books. His residence is a plain, very plain one:
the room into which we were ushered, (the drawing-room, I suppose,) was
furnished in true republican style. It is probably of ancient
construction, as I perceived two beams projecting from the low ceiling, in
the manner of the beams in a ship's cabin. Prints commemorative of
political events, and the old family portraits, hung about the room;
common straw matting covered the floor, and two candlesticks, bearing
sperm candles, ornamented the mantle-piece. The personal appearance of the
ex-President himself corresponds with the simplicity of his furniture. He
resembles rather a substantial, well-fed farmer, than one who has wielded
the destinies of this mighty Confederation, and been bred in the ceremony
and etiquette of an European Court. In fact, he appears to possess none
of that sternness of character which you would suppose to belong to one a
large part of whose life has been spent in political warfare, or, at any
rate, amidst scenes requiring a vast deal of nerve and inflexibility.

"Mrs. Adams is described in a word--a lady. She has all the warmth of
heart and ease of manner that mark the character of the southern ladies,
and from which it would be no easy matter to distinguish her.

"The ex-President was the chief talker. He spoke with infinite ease,
drawing upon his vast resources with the certainty of one who has his
lecture before him ready written. The whole of his conversation, which
steadily he maintained for nearly four hours, was a continued stream of
light. Well contented was I to be a listener. His subjects were the
architecture of the midd