for this institution of the state, which was founded by the liberality, the wisdom, and the prayers of our Puritan Fathers."

On the 21st of February, 1848, John Quincy Adams was seized with paralysis in the House of Representatives, at Washington, and two days later his spirit peacefully departed. The gate of fear and envy was now closed; that of honor and fame had opened. Men of all parties united in paying just tributes to his memory; and when his remains were borne to Massachusetts, they were attended by thirty members of the House - one from each state in the Union. They were received in Boston by a committee appointed by the legislature of the state, and by the municipal government; remained in state in Faneuil Hall for a brief period, and were then removed to Quincy, the birthplace of Mr. Adams. The venerable statesman died in the eightieth year of his life - having been born on the 11th of July, 1767.

The growth of Boston was so rapid, that what was originally calculated to be a sufficient supply of water for half a century, was, in a few years, found to be inadequate. Previous to 1848, the city was dependent upon wells and springs, and upon Jamaica Pond, in the town of West Roxbury. But it soon appeared that the prospective wants of the city were far beyond the capacity of this pond to supply. In 1845 the difficulty was settled in favor of Lake Cochituate, lying in the towns of Natick, Framingham and Wayland. In the following year a legislative act granted the use of this lake, and a committee was appointed by the Boston City Council to carry the act into execution. New surveys were made, and an improved line of aqueduct was selected for conveying the water. In the same year the work was put

under contract, and ground was broken on the 20th of August. The water was conveyed through a brick conduit from the eastern shore of the lake to a reservoir lying in the towns of Newton and Brookline. This reservoir is about five miles from the Boston City Hall. The length of the conduit was about fourteen and one half miles. From the reservoir to Boston, the water was conveyed through two iron pipes into a central reservoir on Beacon Hill, near the State House. On the 25th of October, 1848, the water was introduced into the city. A great procession was organized on that day, which marched through the principal streets to the Common, where, after prayer and singing, and appropriate literary exercises, the water was let on through the gate of the fountain, amid the shouts of the people, the roar of cannon, the hiss of rockets, and the ringing of bells.

Toward the close of the year 1849, occurred in Boston one of the foulest murders recorded in the annals of crime,

the murder of Dr. George Parkman by Dr. John W. Webster, the Professor of Chemistry in Harvard College. From one end of the country to the other the public mind was aroused to an almost unparalleled degree. The deed was speedily followed by a trial, and a vindication of the majesty of the law. After the conviction of the prisoner, and after the sentence of condemnation to death had been pronounced, the governor was subjected to solicitations, entreaties, pleas, threats, and even offered bribes, if haply he might be prevailed upon to commute the sentence pronounced against the criminal. But the executive of the commonwealth stood firm. The nation held its breath with a deep applause. The public voice of this continent at length declared the sublimity of his more than Roman - his Christian-firmness in withholding his hand from

altering, by one whit, the awful but just sentence of the

court.

In the spring of 1850, Governor Briggs felt the cares of state weighing heavily upon him, and the desire to lay them aside prevailed with him to decline a nomination. But the electors, to whom, on the 27th of April, he declared his intention of retiring, paid little heed to his address. He was again nominated, and at the election he was defeated,not, however, by the direct vote of the people, but by the legislature, into which the election was thrown. At the opening of the legislative session in 1851, Governor Briggs resigned the office which he had filled with success and honor for seven years, and extended his greeting to the newly elected incumbent of the chair of state.

The public life of Governor Briggs was cast in a rare model, and his character will always be numbered with the jewels of the old commonwealth. An anecdote, illustrating his independence of character, may fittingly close the present chapter. A gentleman of Boston called upon His Excellency one evening, and remarked,

"Governor, a few evenings since, among our friends, a matter came up in which you were mentioned; but as it was personal, I am not sure that I do right to speak of it." "O, speak out, speak out," said the governor.

“Well, then, our friends agreed that for one who occupies so honorable and dignified a position as governor of the state, you attend too many temperance conventions, and make too many temperance speeches. They think it is not exactly the thing for a governor to do."

"When you see those friends on your return,” replied the governor, "give them my best respects, and say to them, that in my opinion, to attend temperance meetings

and conventions, and make temperance speeches, is not only the most dignified, but the most honorable, as well as most useful employment the people of Massachusetts can put their governor to; and that while I am governor I shall continue at this business."

CHAPTER XXIII.

THE SLAVERY AGITATION.

ON the 1st of May, 1848, a democratic convention met at Baltimore to nominate a candidate for the presidency. Two sets of delegates appeared from New York, both claiming to be the true representatives of the democracy of that state. No compromise could reconcile the parties, and the convention solved the difficulty by excluding both from its deliberations. It then proceeded to nominate Senator Lewis Cass, of Michigan, for president, and General William O. Butler, of Kentucky, for vice president. The delegates representing the whig party, and those opposed to the measures of the administration, met at Philadelphia, and nominated General Zachary Taylor for president, and Millard Fillmore, of New York, for vice president. One portion of the New York democracy accepted the nominations of the Baltimore convention; another portion rejected them. The latter called a convention at Baltimore, adopted a platform in favor of "Free Soil," and nominated ex-president Van Buren for the presidency, and Charles Francis Adams, son of John Quincy Adams, for the vice presidency. After a spirited canvass, the candidates of the whig party were elected; and on the 4th of March, 1849, the new president was inducted into office.

The death of John Quincy Adams created a vacancy in the eighth Congressional District of Massachusetts. Mr. Wilson