On performing this duty, they received from Mr.Adams the following reply:-- GENTLEMEN:--In receiving this testimonial from the Representatives of the People and States of this Union, I am deeply sensible of the circumstances under which it has been given.

All my predecessors have been honored with majorities of the electoral voices, in the primary colleges.

It has been my fortune to be placed, by the divisions of sentiment prevailing among our countrymen on this occasion, in competition, friendly and honorable, with three of my fellow-citizens, all justly enjoying, in eminent degrees, the public favor; and of whose worth, talents and services no one entertains a higher and more respectful sense than myself.

The names of two of them were, in the fulfilment of the provisions of the constitution, presented to the selection of the House of Representatives in concurrence with my own,--names closely associated with the glory of the nation, and one of them farther recommended by a larger majority of the primary electoral suffrages than mine.
In this state of things, could my refusal to accept the trust thus delegated to me give an opportunity to the people to form, and to express, with a nearer approach to unanimity, the object of their preference, I should not hesitate to decline the acceptance of this 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.