John Quincy Adams

“ You seem, Sir, "like the aged oak, standing alone on the plain, which time has spared a little longer, after all its cotemporaries have been levelled with the dust," but the people delight to gather round the venerable trunk, and dwell beneath the shadow of its yet green foliage. ”

“ Dear Sir: A day or two after I had the honor of addressing you at the instance of the citizens of Pittsburgh and Allegheny, I met you at the hospitable table of Col. Robinson. To me, and to all around, the conversation was most entertaining. All the leading incidents connected with the history of Western Pennsylvania, from the Whiskey Insurrection down, seemed to be as familiar to you as to any native to the "manor born." I recollect well your inquiries relating to the honored widow of the author of "Modern Chivalry," and how animated you were in speaking of Captain Farrago and Teague O'Regan. ”

“ Instead of the barge, and the row-galley, our skilful mechanics in 1843 completed, on the very bastions of old Fort Duquesne, an iron ship of war that is to carry on the Northern Lakes the stars and stripes of our beloved country—and a frigate is now in progress of construction, which with her "iron sides," is destined to defend the honor of the American name "in every sea under the whole heavens." ”

“ I shall always entertain a feeling of gratitude, belonging to the nature of man, towards the citizens of Pittsburgh, for their attention and sympathy on that trying occasion. I had never flattered myself with the expectation or hope that it should be in my power to personally return them those thanks which were due ”

“ During the last summer, I received an invitation to visit a western city, to perform an act solely connected with the promotion of science, and totally separated from politics—I came for the purpose of lending my aid to an object for the advancement and promotion of the happiness of man on earth—for the advancement of knowledge, for which I hope all parties are equally zealous—the laying of the corner-stone [pg 11] for an Astronomical Observatory at Cincinnati. ”

“ No base subserviency to Foreign Powers dictated your course, but a manly and determined support of the true interests of the country, by the protection of its industry, and by a proper reciprocity of countervailing restrictions. ”

“ Captain Farrago and Teague O'Regan are legitimate descendants, on one side from the La Mancha and his squire Sancho, on the other, from Sir Hudibras and his man Ralph, and if not primitive conceptions themselves, are at least as lineal in their descent as the pious Æneas from the impetuous and vindictive son of Pelias. ”

“ Here the rough misshapen elements of [pg 7] nature are formed and moulded to suit the purposes of man. Here machines to mitigate the toil of the laborer, and to facilitate intercourse between the States, are made with a skill unsurpassed even by the old world. ”