eminent charge and to submit the decision of this momentous question
again to their determination. But the Constitution itself has not so
disposed of the contingency which would arise in the event of my
refusal. I shall therefore repair to the post assigned me by the call of
my country, signified through her constitutional organs, oppressed with
the magnitude of the task before me, but cheered with the hope of that
generous support from my fellow-citizens which, in the vicissitudes of a
life devoted to their service, has never failed to sustain me, confident
in the trust that the wisdom of the legislative councils will guide and
direct me in the path of my official duty, and relying above all upon
the superintending providence of that Being in whose hands our breath is
and whose are all our ways.

Gentlemen, I pray you to make acceptable to the House the assurance of
my profound gratitude for their confidence, and to accept yourselves my
thanks for the friendly terms in which you have communicated to me their
decision.

John Quincy Adams.



Letter from the President Elect.


City of Washington,
_March 1, 1825_


The President of the Senate of the United States.