on this occasion, by assuring you that to-morrow morning, by the
light of the blessed sun, I hope to take everyone of you by the hand, and
express feelings too strong for immediate utterance."

On the following morning at six o'clock, Mr. Adams visited the State
Prison, and made many inquiries concerning the discipline of the prison,
and its success in the prevention of crime and reformation of offenders.
At 9 o'clock he met the citizens in the First Presbyterian church, where
he was addressed by Gov. Seward, as follows:--

"SIR:--I am charged with the very honorable and most agreeable duty, of
expressing to you the reverence and affectionate esteem of my
fellow-citizens, assembled in your presence.

"A change has come over the spirit of your journey, since your steps have
turned towards your ancestral sea-side home. An excursion to invigorate
health impaired by labors, too arduous for age, in the public councils,
and expected to be quiet and contemplative, has become one of fatigue and
excitement. Rumors of your advance escape before you, and a happy and
grateful community rise up in their clustering cities, towns, and
villages, impede your way with demonstrations of respect and kindness, and
convert your unpretending journey into a triumphal progress. Such honors
frequently attend public functionaries, and such an one may sometimes find
it difficult to determine how much of the homage he receives is paid to
his own worth, how much proceeds from the habitual reverence of good
republican citizens to constituted elective authority, and how much from
the spirit of venal adulation.

"You, sir, labor under no such embarrassment. The office you hold, though
honorable, is purely legislative, and such as we can bestow by our
immediate suffrage on one of ourselves. You conferred personal benefits
sparingly when you held the patronage of the nation. That patronage you
have relinquished, and can never regain. Your hands will be uplifted
often, during your remaining days, to invoke blessings on your country,
but never again to distribute honors or reward among your countrymen. The
homage paid you, dear sir, is sincere, for it has its sources in the just
sentiments and irrepressible affections of a free people, their love of
truth, their admiration of wisdom, their reverence for virtue, and their
gratitude for beneficence.

"Nor need you fear that enthusiasm exaggerates your title to the public
regard. Your fellow-citizens, in