ADAMS (John Quincy). Oration on the life and character of Gi - Lot 2

ADAMS (John Quincy). Oration on the life and character of Gilbert Motier de Lafayette. Delivered at the request of both houses of the Congress of the United States, before them, in the House of representatives at Washington, on the 31st December 1834. Washington, printed by Gales and Seaton, 1835. In-8, 94-(2 blanks) pp, black morocco half-basin; worn binding with split jaws and spine reinforced with a piece of leather then partially removed; leaves with freckling and wetness (old binding). FIRST EDITION. EULOGY FOR THE MARQUIS DE LA FAYETTE, TRACING THE COURSE OF HIS LIFE AND IN PARTICULAR HIS ACTIVE PARTICIPATION IN THE AMERICAN WAR OF INDEPENDENCE. John Quincy Adams emphasizes the high ideals of liberty that inhabited him: "He devoted himself, his life, his fortune, his hereditary honors, his towering ambition, his splendid hopes, all to the cause of liberty. He came to another hemisphere to defend her. He became one of the most effective champions of our Independence" (p. 83). Following are the acts of Congress relating to the funeral honors voted following the death of the Marquis de La Fayette. SIXTH PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, JOHN QUINCY ADAMS (1767-1848) was the son of the second president, John Adams, and accompanied him for a time on his travels in Europe. Senator from 1802 to 1808, he became a leader of the Federalist party, notably opposing Andrew Jackson, but as a moderate conservative with a free spirit far removed from party discipline, he drew closer to the Democrats. He then fulfilled diplomatic missions, as ambassador to Russia (1809) and as negotiator of the peace between the United States and England (1812), before being appointed Secretary of State by President James Monroe in 1817: in this capacity, he played a role in the acquisition of Florida (1819), in the definition of the northern and western borders, and was one of the authors of the "Monroe Doctrine" promulgated in 1823. Elected President in 1825, he endured a difficult term in office, marked by opposition from the Senate. In 1830, he was elected to the House of Representatives, where his abolitionist convictions distinguished him for his action in favor of blacks. PROVENANCE: AUGUSTUS BREVOORT WOODWARD (handwritten bookplate). This may have been Thomas Jefferson's friend Augustus Brevoort Woodward (1774-1827), who, as President of the Michigan Supreme Court, defined the plan on which the city of Detroit was rebuilt after the great fire of 1805, and played a courageous role against the British in the Anglo-American War of 1812. He ended his career as a judge in Florida.