 | Letters of Mrs. Adams, |  |
TO JOHN ADAMS.
To give thy honors to the day."
And may it prove an auspicious prelude to each
ensuing season. You have this day to declare yourself
head of a nation. "And now, O Lord, my
God, thou hast made thy servant ruler over the people.
Give unto him an understanding heart, that he
may know how to go out and come in before this
great people; that he may discern between good and
bad. For who is able to judge this thy so great a
people?" were the words of a royal sovereign; and
not less applicable to him who is invested with the
chief magistracy of a nation, though he wear not a
crown, nor the robes of royalty.
My thoughts and my meditations are with you,
though personally absent; and my petitions to
Heaven are, that "the things which make for peace
may not be hidden from your eyes." My feelings
are not those of pride or ostentation, upon the occasion.
They are solemnized by a sense of the obligations,
the important trusts, and numerous duties
connected with it. That you may be enabled to
discharge them with honor to yourself, with justice
and impartiality to your country, and with satisfaction
your
| Letters of Mrs. Adams, | |