Characters
Mrs. Louisa Catherine Adams
Despite Abigail’s disapproval, Louisa was an ideal wife for John Quincy while
they lived within the circle of European and American elite; as a wife of a
Bostonian, Louisa fails miserably.
Mrs. Abigail Adams
Abigail Adams, wife of John Adams, is the ideal eighteenth-century woman.
Abigail’s disapproval of Louisa (Johnson) as a suitable match for her son, John
Quincy, provides insight into Adams’ idea of women. He says that this moment of
disapproval teaches the correctness of women’s judgment.
Brooks Adams
While Adams teaches at Harvard, he rooms in the same house as his brother,
Brooks, who was attending law school. Brooks, younger by a decade, influences
Adams’ thinking about history. Brooks ‘‘taught [Adams] that the relation
between civilizations was that of trade.’’ Due to Brooks’ influence, Adams
searches the ancient trading routes for ‘‘a city of thought’’ but does not find
one.
Henry Brooks Adams
The main character of the story attempts to discuss what parts of education are
useful according to his own experiences. His search for knowledge also imitates
other spiritual odysseys like Dante’s or that of John Bunyan’s Christian. He
gained little from structured educational experiences. Whether grade school or
Harvard College, education by discipline is a large waste of time in his mind.
Stubbornly, Adams sticks to the idea that four tools are necessary to any
successful education. They are knowledge of German, Spanish, French, and a
facility with mathematics. Those are the building blocks. Otherwise, he
highlights certain lessons in his own life but does not come up with any kind
of educational program.
Mrs. Abigail Brown Adams
Abigail Brown, daughter of Peter Brooks and wife of Charles Francis, proved to
be a great asset to the American legation in London because she excelled in
British custom. Adams realizes that his mother’s success stems from her ability
to assimilate.
Mr. Charles Francis Adams
Adams’ father, Charles Francis, served as America’s minister to the Court of
St. James during the American Civil War. His diplomatic success in preventing
the British from openly siding with the Southern Confederacy is a highpoint of
Adams’ education, though it disqualified him for a political career. Adams
looks to his father as his first role model.
Adams realizes that his father’s concern with national politics stems from a principled refusal to take part in the corruption of state politics. He also admires his father’s mind as it interacts with allies in the parlor of the Quincy home. Adams judges his father’s mind to be ‘‘the only perfectly balanced mind that ever existed in the name.’’ This did not mean it was a brilliant mind but that it ‘‘worked with singular perfection’’ so that Charles Francis ‘‘stood alone’’—without master. A motivating force for this mind was a staunch conviction of Puritan thought that prevented Charles Francis from compromising his abolitionist stance.
President John Quincy Adams
Adams holds up his grandfather, John Quincy, as an exemplar man of power who can coerce others into following a proper path. While a boy, Adams once attempted to avoid going to school by throwing a tantrum against his mother. This ended when ‘‘the President’’ silently ushered him all the way to his school desk. ‘‘The President . . . had shown no temper, no irritation, no personal feeling, and had made no display of force. Above all, he had held his tongue.’’ The remarkable thing for Adams about this experience was the impact; the president acted so correctly that Adams felt no ‘‘rancor’’ but just the opposite, he admired where before he had been ‘‘paralyzed by awe.’’ The episode is just...
(This entire section contains 2271 words.)
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one of many moments in the book when Adams reflects on the proper use of power.
George Sewall Boutwell
Boutwell’s appointment to secretary of the treasury by President Grant suggests
that the Grant administration, in Adams’ terms, will be victimized by
‘‘inertia.’’ Boutwell’s incompetence encouraged the notorious robber baron, Jay
Gould, to attempt to corner the gold market. A nationwide panic ensued. Sadly,
Boutwell represents the type of politician ‘‘pathetic in their helplessness to
do anything with power when it came to them.’’
John Bright
Orators like John Bright, one of the most eloquent orators of
nineteenth-century Britain, succeed in politics not only as a result of having
‘‘the courage of a prize-fighter’’ but because ‘‘Bright knew his Englishmen
better than England did.’’ Consequently, Bright ‘‘knew what amount of violence
in language was necessary to drive an idea into a Lancashire or Yorkshire
head.’’ Bright’s professional success bolsters Adams repertoire of lessons in
national difference. Adams knows that Bright’s methods would not work anywhere
but amongst the English. Adams also sees that Bright’s verbal violence combines
with other qualities. Bright ‘‘betrayed no one, and he never advanced an
opinion in practical matters that did not prove to be practical.’’
Peter Chardon Brooks
Adams’ ‘‘other grandfather,’’ Peter Brooks, was a wealthy banker whose fortune
at his death was the largest in Boston. Brooks’ estate was divided amongst the
children and thus the Adams family increased in wealth through Abigail Brown’s
share.
Senator James Donald Cameron
Senator Cameron of Pennsylvania ‘‘had shipwrecked his career in the person of
President Grant.’’ Adams sees Cameron as a Pennsylvanian in the mold of
Benjamin Franklin. For Adams, the Pennsylvanian puts aside his prejudices
against the world once his interests are allied with those of others.
Accordingly, Cameron was a member of Adams’ circle as he was an ally of Hay,
Lodge, and Roosevelt.
George Douglas Campbell
See Duke of Argyll
Duke of Argyll
One of Charles Francis’ most valuable friends during his service at the Court
of St. James was the duke of Argyll. The duke believed in Russell’s honesty and
Charles Francis follows him. Their gullibility amazes Adams.
Charles William Eliot
Adams had a brief career as a professor at the request of the president of
Harvard College, Charles Eliot. After seven years, Adams views collegiate
education, even under Eliot’s reformed system, as costly and wasteful. Eliot
‘‘hinted that Adams’s services merited recognition.’’
William Maxwell Evarts
Upon his return from London, Adams found welcome in the home of William Evarts,
President Johnson’s attorney general. They had long discussions about legal
tender as Evarts sought to defend the president’s position, although, Evarts
had opposed it in the past.
William Edward Forster
One of the British statesmen who helps Charles Francis and the cause of the
Union was the talented young radical, William Edward Forster. According to
Adams, Forster was ‘‘pure gold’’ even when he eventually became part of the
establishment as he rose to the rank of cabinet minister.
William Evart Gladstone
Gladstone’s confession of 1896 causes Adams to rethink his education as private
secretary to his father. In 1905, Adams learns that Gladstone considered it a
mistake on his part to have thought that Jefferson Davis had actually formed a
nation—a gross mistake that nearly led to war—but still a mistake. Dumbfounded
by the passage, Adams re- flects that ‘‘he had seen nothing correctly at the
time. His whole theory of conspiracy . . . resolved itself into [Gladstone’s]
‘incredible grossness.’’’ However, as with his grandfather, Adams feels no
rancor because he believes that nothing about an individual’s psychology can
impact an historical event.
John Hay
As a reward for his support of McKinley’s Republican campaign for the
presidency, Hay was appointed the American ambassador to England. However, when
William R. Day left to finalize the outcome of the Spanish-American War in
Paris, Hay was recalled to serve as secretary of state. He stayed in this
position.
Hay is the ideal American for Adams in part because he brings to fruition the political machinations of Adams’ forebears. Hay studies John Quincy’s work closely and he seeks advice from Adams on a regular basis. In Hay’s successful foreign policy, Adams sees ‘‘the family work of a hundred and fifty years fell at once into the grand perspective of true empire building.’’
Ebenezer Rockwood Hoar
Adams’ continuing hopes for a political position are dashed when he finds
himself in disagreement with his friend, Ebenezer Hoar, President Grant’s
attorney general. Adams writes an article in favor of the Supreme Court in the
matter of the Legal Tender Cases. Hoar, as Grant’s point man, favors the
government’s right to print paper specie. The Supreme Court decided against
this in 1870 but after Grant appointed two more justices, the Court found in
favor of the government when it revisited the question. As a result of the
political fights, Hoar was driven from office.
Lord Houghton
See Richard Monckton Milnes
Clarence King
As the first head of the Geological Survey, Clarence King was a remarkable
combination of hardy adventurer and scientist. The occupation and exploitation
of the continent was made possible due to men like King. For Adams, King is
larger than life—a scientist but also a man who can survive in the wilderness.
However, King’s abilities do not prevent his tragic end. Losing his fortune in
the crash of 1893, King dies alone and forgotten in a hotel in the
Southwest.
Mrs. Louisa Catherine Kuhn
Firstborn child to Charles Francis and Abigail Brown, Louisa ‘‘was one of the
most sparkling creatures [Adams] met in a long and varied experience of bright
women.’’ Louisa married Charles Kuhn and invited Adams to join them on a
European tour. Adams happily accepts an excuse to leave Germany. This
experience reminds Adams of the superiority of nineteenth-century American
women— especially those of the Adams family—and his preference for being in
their control.
Though Italy proved to be a wonderful influence on Adams, the death of Louisa becomes a powerful lesson; ‘‘he had never seen Nature—only her surface—the sugar-coating that she shows to youth.’’ This was the first time Adams had watched someone die. Louisa had been thrown from a cab and bruised her foot. Tetanus had set in and ‘‘hour by hour the muscles grew rigid, while the mind remained bright, until after ten days of fiendish torture she died in convulsions.’’ The ‘‘harsh brutality of chance’’ was not soon forgotten.
Mrs. Anna Cabot Mills Lodge
Along with Mrs. Cameron, Anna Lodge was a ‘‘dispenser of sunshine over
Washington.’’ Adams views Anna in a light usually reserved only for the women
of his family. Mirroring the role of Louisa, Anna takes command of Adams. In
1895, when all the world seemed just simply too confusing to Adams, Anna gives
him the busy task of serving as traveling companion and tutor to the Lodges and
their two sons.
Henry Cabot Lodge
One of Adam’s students at Harvard was Henry Lodge. Adams regarded Lodge as a
younger brother or nephew and a source of solace toward the end of his
life.
James Russell Lowell
Adams finds classes at Harvard a bore until he begins to take advantage of the
German method of private readings used by James Russell Lowell. ‘‘Education was
not serious’’ but Adams found Lowell to be a good conversationalist.
Richard Monckton Milnes
Richard Milnes epitomizes the ‘‘gargantuan type,’’ the sort of man who is
larger than life and whose grasp seems universal. Milnes was a member of the
upper class whose breakfasts were so famous that nobody dared turn down an
invitation but died to attend. He knew everyone and excelled in his literary
and artistic tastes. As one of the pro-Union faction, he often provided refuge
to Charles Francis at his home in Fryston.
Viscount Palmerston
When the Adams family journeys to the Court of St. James on behalf of the
United States government in 1861, they find the British prime minister to be
Palmerston. Known for his fiery defense of ‘‘British Interest,’’ Adams likens
his family to Christians showing up in Rome during the time of Emperor Tiberius
when martyring Christians was good sport. Palmerston represents the despotic
ruler who sacrifices others on a whim.
Earl John Russell
A study in British politicians is found in Palmerson’s betise, John Russell. Of
all the pro- Confederacy members of the British government, Russell’s call for
recognition of the American rebels is the loudest. In the end, his scheming
falls apart and he must bow to Charles Francis and international law by finding
new buyers for the deadly ironclads that he wanted to send against the Union
Navy.
Governor William Henry Seward
William Seward was secretary of state to President Lincoln and friend of the
Adams family since the days of the Free Soil Party.
Augustus St. Gaudens
Throughout the text, Adams lists Augustus St. Gaudens among the great artists
of his day. In passing, Adams comments on his aesthetic reaction to the
memorial Adams commissioned for Mrs. Henry Adams at Rock Creek Cemetery in
Washington, D.C. The statue, in the text, is simply the virgin, the symbol of
femininity, opposing the dynamo.
Charles Sumner
Until he disapproves of Charles Francis’ appointment to head the legation to
St. James Court in London, Charles Sumner stood fast as a friend of the family
and a role model to young Adams. While still pursuing their unpopular
abolitionist crusade as members of the Free Soil Party in Boston, Sumner stood
out amongst Charles Francis’ friends as ‘‘heroic.’’ Sumner stood alone—he was
without family and his political position made many doors closed to him. His
lack of Boston allies outside the Adams’ circle caused Sumner to cultivate his
European connections. For this reason, he is one of the few American leaders
during the Civil War of which the British think well.
Henry John Temple
See Viscount Palmerston