9 January 1840
adams-john10 Neal Millikan Health and Illness
327

9. V:30. Thursday

Dr Thomas 3 times

The abatement of the most immediately dangerous symptoms of our child’s disease continues, and we are permitted to hope that she may restored to our humbled and longing affections. Yet is she still in a condition so dangerous and critical, that I was not permitted this day to visit her chamber— The fever has intermitted, but not yet wholly subsided; and there is some encouragement in the fact, that the Doctors visits were this day reduced to three— At the House, Mr Saltonstall appeared, returned last Evening from his Christmas and New-Years visits to Salem. No appearance yet of the reception of petitions, but Mr Abbott Lawrence obtained the reference of a memorial upon the present condition of our commerce with China, to the Committee of foreign Affairs— An explosion of Opium smuggling in that Country, has brought the celestial empire in collision with John Bull, and the British Government threaten to blockade all the ports of China. This has grievously alarmed our merchants, who thereupon memorialize Congress for protection— The report of the Committee on the revisal of the rules was the special order of this day at 1 O’Clock but Mr Botts of Virginia had the floor on Bells substitute; for Campbell’s Resolutions on the New-Jersey election, and to accommodate him, the consideration of the report of the Committee on the rules was postponed till next Tuesday, and the temporary adoption of the old rules was continued till next Thursday— Botts made a powerful and eloquent Speech of more than two hours, but in which with the true Virginian maggot in his head, he took the position that there was and could be no contested election, because there was no law either of Congress or of the State of New Jersey for regulating contested elections.— He said there had been an act of Congress passed in 1798 for two years, continued in 1800 for four years and then suffered to expire— And he argued that since then there could be no contested election from New-Jersey— But there is a Law in New-Jersey for regulating elections, and the Constitution of the United States makes that quo ad hoc the Law of the Union, so long as Congress itself makes no Law on the subject— And then the House by the Constitutional power to judge of the returns qualifications and elections of its members, decides the contest of which party has been duly elected, conformably to the Statute Law of New-Jersey.— There was thus a crack in the corner stone of Mr Botts’s argument; but the superstructure was fair and solid— He scourged Duncan of Ohio and Smith of Maine; but they have the skin of the Rhinoceros.— When he closed Randolph of New-Jersey took the floor, but though a sensible man, and not a bad Speaker, he was so much less interesting than Botts that the House grew impatient, and the members slunk away till there was scarcely an Quorum left. Mr Randolph sent to the Clerk’s table sundry affidavits to be read; and they became so tedious, that three successive motions to adjourn were made, and taken by yeas and nays, the last of which after 4. O’Clock succeeded. In the Evening I wrote a Letter to George L. Curry President of the Boston Mechanic Apprentice’s Library Association, to send with a copy of my Address to them.

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