United States, and of advocating it with unsurpassed eloquence and zeal, belongs to the patriotic Henry Clay. Mainly by his influence, the House of Representatives, in 1820, passed the following resolutions :

"Resolved, That the House of Representatives participate with the people of the United States, in the deep interest which they feel for the success of the Spanish Provinces of South America, which are struggling to establish their liberty and independence.

"Resolved, That this House will give its constitutional support to the President of the United States, whenever he may deem it expedient to recognize the sovereignty and independence of any of said Provinces."

Mr. Adams at first hesitated on this subject. Not that he was opposed to the diffusion of the blessings of freedom to the oppressed. No man was a more ardent lover of liberty, or was more anxious that its institutions should be established throughout the earth, at the earliest practicable moment. But he had many and serious doubts whether the people of the South American Provinces were capable of originating and maintaining an enlightened self-government. There was a lack of general intelligence among the people-a want of an enlarged and enlightened understanding of the principles of rational freedom-which led him to apprehend that their attempts at self-government would for a long season, at least, result in the reign of faction andanarchy, rather than true republican principles. The subsequent history of these countries-the divisions and contentions, the revolutions and counter-revolutions, which have rent them asunder, and deluged

them in blood-clearly show that Mr. Adams but exercised a far-seeing intelligence in entertaining these doubts. Nevertheless, as they had succeeded in throwing off the Spanish yoke, and had, in fact, achieved their independence, Mr. Adams would not throw any impediment in their way. Trusting that his fears as to their ability for self-government might be groundless, he gave his influence to the recognizing of their independence by the United States.

In 1821 the Greek revolution broke out. The people of that classic land, after enduring ages of the most brutal and humiliating oppression from the Turks, nobly resolved to break the chains of the Ottoman power, or perish in the attempt. The war was long, and sanguinary, but finally resulted in the emancipation of Greece, and the establishment of its independence as a nation.

The inhabitants of the United States could not witness such a struggle with indifference. A spirit of sympathy ran like electricity throughout the land. Public meetings were held in nearly every populous town in the Union, in which resolutions, encouraging the Greeks in their struggle, were passed, and contributions taken up to aid them. Money, clothing, provisions, arms, were collected in immense quantities and shipped to Greece. In churches, colleges, academies and schools-at the theatres, museums, and other places of amusement and public resort-aid was freely and generously given in behalf of the struggling pa

triots. Many citizens of the United States, when the first blast of the trumpet of liberty rang along the Ionian seas, and through the Peloponnesus, sped across the ocean, and, throwing themselves into the midst of the Grecian hosts, contended heroically for their emancipation. Among these volunteers, was Col. J. P. Miller, of Vermont, who not only gallantly fought in the battles of Greece, but was greatly serviceable in conveying supplies from the United States to that struggling people.

The deep sympathy which prevailed in every section of the Union, was soon felt in Congress. Many public men were anxious that the Government should take some important and decisive step, even to hostilities, in behalf of Greece. Eloquent speeches were delivered in the House of Representatives on the exciting topic. Mr. Clay electrified the country with his stirring appeals in behalf of the land in which was established the first republic on earth. Mr. Webster submitted the following resolution to the House of Representatives :—

"Resolved, That provision ought to be made by law, for defraying the expense incident to the appointment of an Agent, or Commissioner, to Greece, whenever the President shall deem it expedient to make such appointment.”

In support of this resolution, Mr. Webster made a most eloquent speech, of which the following is the conclusion:

"Mr. Chairman-There are some things which, to be well done, must be promptly done. If we even deter

mine to do the thing that is now proposed, we may do it too late. Sir, I am not of those who are for withholding aid when it is most urgently needed, and when the stress is past, and the aid no longer necessary, overwhelming the sufferers with caresses. I will not stand by and see my fellow-man drowning, without stretching out a hand to help him, till he has, by his own efforts and presence of mind, reached the shore in safety, and then encumber him with aid. With suffering Greece, now is the crisis of her fate-her great, it may be her last struggle. Sir, while we sit here deliberating, her destiny may be decided. The Greeks, contending with ruthless oppressors, turn their eyes to us, and invoke us, by their ancestors, by their slaughtered wives and children, by their own blood poured out like water, by the hecatombs of dead they have heaped up, as it were, to heaven; they invoke, they implore from us some cheering sound, some look of sympathy, some token of compassionate regard. They look to us as the great Republic of the earth-and they ask us, by our common faith, whether we can forget that they are struggling, as we once struggled, for what we now so happily enjoy? I cannot say, sir, they will succeed; that rests with heaven. But, for myself, sir, if I should to-morrow hear that they have failed—that their last phalanx had sunk beneath the Turkish cimetar, that the flames of their last city had sunk in its ashes, and that nought remained but the wide, melancholy waste where Greece once was-I should still re

flect, with the most heartfelt satisfaction, that I have asked you, in the name of seven millions of freemen, that you would give them, at least, the cheering of one friendly voice."

The committee having in charge the raising of a fund for the assistance of the Greeks, in New York, addressed a circular to the venerable ex-President John Adams, to which they received the following reply :—

'Quincy, Dec. 29, 1823. "GENTLEMEN:-I have received your circular of the 12th inst., and I thank you for the honor you have done me in addressing it to me. Be assured my heart beats in unison with yours, and with those of your constituents, and I presume with all the really civilized part of mankind, in sympathy with the Greeks, suffering, as they are, in the great cause of liberty and humanity. The gentlemen of Boston have taken measures to procure a general subscription in their favor, through the State, and I shall contribute my mite with great pleasure. In the meantime I wish you, and all other gentlemen engaged in the virtuous work, all the success you or they can wish ; for I believe no effort in favor of virtue will be ultimately lost. "I have the honor to be, Gentlemen, your very humble Servant, "JOHN ADAMS."

The sympathies of John Quincy Adams were ardently enlisted in behalf of the Greek Revolution. But with a prudence and wisdom which characterized all his acts, he threw his influence against any direct interference on the part of the Government of the United States. It would have been a departure from that neutral policy, in regard to European conflicts, on which the country had acted from the commencement of our national existence, alike injurious and dangerous.