That father could tell part of the story of liberty in the life of the younger Adams. At the age of eleven Adams decided that he would be a Christian. He said: "Of this one thing I must make sure: I shall humbly serve God. If He makes me a great man, I shall rejoice; but this He surely will do: if I trust Him, He will make me a useful man."
God took Adams at his word. He sought the Kingdom first. God added place. Adams was diplomat, Senator, Secretary of State, President, Congressman. He might well say with his dying breath, as he was carried from his place in the old House of Representatives to the Rotunda, "This is the last of earth, but I am content."
Well he might be content. He had been a faithful, honest, upright Christian man, who had received at the hands of his fellow citizens the highest honors they could confer, and in his death he passed to a home among the redeemed, there with enlarged intelligence and clearer vision to continue his work for God in the beyond.
In this day, when writers are striving to make black appear white, the father who would mingle Christianity with patriotism would not fail to sketch the life of Aaron Burr in contrast with the young Adams.
Burr tells us that at the age of eighteen the Spirit of God came upon him with such power that he fled to the woods to settle that great question which faces every human being—"Shall I be a Christian?" He said to himself: "I purpose as a lawyer to succeed by the tricks of the trade. There is many a short cut in business which a Christian could not take, therefore I shall not be a Christian."
He tells us that the Spirit of God never again troubled him. He sinned against the Spirit, that unpardonable sin. Left to himself, his destiny led him to a high place only to make his fall more terrible. Socially he was the most charming man of his day, but he entered no home which he did not defile. No woman loved him but to her sorrow.
Burr was holding the position of Vice-President as a Republican when he was nominated by the Federalists for Governor of New York. Some of the leading men of that party refused to support him, among them Hamilton. This led to the duel in which Hamilton was killed, July 11, 1804.
