THIS STONE MARKS THE GRAVE OF CHARLES FRANCIS ADAMS SON OF JOHN QUINCY AND LOUISA CATHERINE (JOHNSON) ADAMS BORN 18 AUGUST 1807 Trained from his youth in politics and letters His manhood strengthened by the convictions Which had inspired his fathers He was among the first to serve And among the most steadfast to support That new revolution Which restored the principles of liberty To public law And secured to his country The freedom of its soil During seven troubled and anxious years Minister of the United States in England afterward arbitrator at the tribunal of Geneva He failed in no task which his Government imposed Yet won the respect and confidence of two great nations Dying 21 November 1886 He left the example of high powers nobly used and the remembrance of a spotless name. [End of Footnote] Besides these more conspicuous leaders, there was to be found, in almost every town and village in Massachusetts, some man eminent among his neighbors for purity of life, for philanthropy, and for large intelligence who was ready to join the new party. The glowing hopes and dreams and aspirations of youth were inspirited by the muse of Whittier and Longfellow and Lowell and Bryant. The cause of free labor appealed to the strongest sympathies of the mechanics of Essex and the skilled laborers of Worcester. Four years afterward Daniel Webster, as he lay dying at Marshfield, said to the friend who was by his side: "The Whig candidate will obtain but one or two States, and it is well; as a national party, the Whigs are ended." The Whig Party retained its organization in Massachusetts until 1856; but its intellect and its moral power were gone. Mr. Winthrop, as appears from the excellent "Life" published by his son, had no sympathy with Mr. Webster's position. Mr. Webster died, a disappointed man, in the autumn of 1852. He took no part in political affairs in Massachusetts after 1850. Mr. Choate, who was to follow his great leader to the grave within a few years, transferred his allegiance to the Democrats. Mr. Everett, after a brief service in the Senate, a service most uncongenial to his own taste, resigned his seat in the midst of the angry conflict on the Nebraska bill, and devoted himself to literary pursuits until, when the war broke out, he threw himself with all his zeal, power, and eloquence into the cause of his country. CHAPTER IX LIFE IN WORCESTER