Adams protested
against this rule as an invasion of his constitutional rights, and from
that time forward, amid the bitterest opposition, addressed his whole
force toward the vindication of the right of petition. On every petition
day, he would offer, in constantly increasing numbers, petitions which
came to him from all parts of the country for the abolition of slavery.
The southern representatives were driven almost to madness, but Adams
kept doggedly on his way, and every year renewed his motion to strike
out the gag rule. As constant dripping will wear away a stone, so his
persistence wore away opposition, or, rather, the sentiment of the
country was gradually changing, and at last, on December 3, 1844, his
motion prevailed, and the great battle which he had fought practically
alone was won. Four years later he fell, stricken with paralysis, at his
place in the House.
It is worth pausing to remark that, of the six men who, up to
this time, had held the presidency, four were from Virginia and two from
Massachusetts; that, in every instance, the Virginians had been
re-elected and had administered the affairs of the country to the
satisfaction of the people, while both the Massachusetts men had been
retired from office at the end of a single term, and after turbulent and
violent administrations.
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