Memoirs of John Adams Dix; comp. by his son, Morgan Dix.

42

MEMOIRS OF JOHN ADAMS DIX.

The six months which I passed under the direction of these
accomplished gentlemen were months of unceasing labor, and
the habits of application which I acquired were of infinite
service to me in after-life. Certainly, no young man of my
age could have had advantages superior to mine; and when
thrown upon my own unassisted exertions, a few years later,
I often felt that I had not profited by them as I might have
done if I had appreciated them at the time as I ought. But
I had become possessed with so strong a desire to go into the
military service, that I was becoming indifferent to my studies,
and Dr. Shattuck advised my father to gratify me.* The latW* ith what reluctance Dr. Shattuck consented may be inferred from
the following letter, which my father preserved with the utmost care,
and gave to me, years ago, for safe keeping:
"DEAR SIR,-I have the pleasure to acknowledge the receipt of yours
in relation to Adams' going to the army. While my mind is filled with
regret that a lad of such promise is to be surrounded with temptations
almost too heavy not to canker his present unexceptionable habits of industry and virtue, some solace is found in the expectation that he will be
pretty constantly guarded by a father's vigilance. Your son has a genius
which quite as well qualifies him for excellence in the civil as the military department; and the civil department holds up more splendid records for the exercise of great talents than are to be found in the military
of a Republic which is little liable to invasion. These remarks are founded on the possible influence of an acquaintance in the army to give your
son an unconquerable predilection for a military life, which, if there be
stability in our republican institutions, could promise no man of talents
any adequate reward. Capt. Ebenezer Morse says Adams possesses uncommon constitutional facilities for becoming an orator-the forum, not
the camp, is the place for the gift of tongues. I hope you will not relinquish the idea of his becoming a graduate at some respectable university,
and that you will encourage him in gaining an extended knowledge of
the Latin and Greek languages and of mathematics, before he may go
to the university. The Hon. J. Q. Adams is said to have translated (on
paper) the classics into English, which, at thesame time it directed his
attention to the critical comprehension of the learned languages, gave
him great facility in English composition. Your son has translated into
English the orations of Cicero, which he has studied while at our house.
I submit it to your serious consideration whether Adams would not be