Prudence would have dictated to a president
anxious to enlarge his following the avoidance of irritating
utterances upon this point. But Adams characteristically threw away
his opportunity, choosing rather to make extreme proposals which he
realized had slight chance of success, and to state broad principles
of national power.
In this respect he went even further than Clay approved. [Footnote:
Adams, Memoirs, VII., 59, 61-63.] Defining the object of civil
government as the improvement of the condition of those over whom it
is established, not only did he urge the construction of roads and
canals, but, in his enlarged view of internal improvements, he
included the establishment of a national university, the support of
observatories, "light-houses of the skies," and the exploration of
the interior of the United States and of the northwest coast.
Appealing to the example of European nations, as well as of various
states of the Union, he urged Congress to pass laws for the
promotion of agriculture, commerce, and manufactures, the
"encouragement of the mechanic and of the elegant arts, the
advancement of literature, and the progress of the sciences,
ornamental and profound.
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