As a
constitutional thesis, without respect to the time of delivery,--for,
although Mr. Adams asserted the power, he at the same moment waived its
exercise,--as a specimen of his manner of treating a great
constitutional question when numerous authorities and precedents are to
be examined and set aside, this speech deserves to be studied. With the
exception of Gen. Marshall's speech in the case of Jonathan Robbins, it
stands preeminent in our political literature as a model of profound
research, of thorough argumentation, and of overwhelming strength. The
reader at this day feels that he is borne along by a force which is not
only equal to the occasion, but above it, and which it is vain to
resist. The speech is no mean system of logic and of the rules of
evidence in itself. And in connection with this speech I may mention the
speech on the same subject, which he delivered some years later, in
reply to Mr. Livingston, and in which the topic is discussed with new
illustrations. These two speeches alone survive in any fulness of all
his forensic exertions. The speech which Mr.
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