It was the more to his credit in consideration of the fact, that in those days elevation to offices of this importance was the award of merit and talent, and not the result of importunity, or the payment of party services.

Mr.Adams was at this time in the twenty-seventh year of his age--a younger man, undoubtedly, than has since ever been selected by our Government to fulfil a trust so important.

But the ability and discretion of the young diplomatist, and the success which attended his negotiations in Europe, so creditable to himself and his country, fully justified the wisdom of Washington in selecting him for this important duty.
Although the father of Mr.Adams was then Vice President of the United States, yet it is well known his appointment on a foreign mission was obtained without the influence or even the request of his parent.

It is not strictly correct, however, as stated by several biographers, that he was selected for the mission to Holland without any previous intimation of the President's intentions to his father.

This is made evident by the following extract of a letter from John Adams to his wife, dated Philadelphia, 27th May, 1794, conveying intelligence which must have made a mother's heart swell with honest pride and satisfaction:-- "It is proper that I should apprize you, that the President has it in contemplation to send your son to Holland, that you may recollect yourself and prepare for the event.