Diary of Charles Francis Adams, volume 2
1827-12-09
Mr. Frothingham who came out to preach this morning at Medford brought the news of the election of Speaker and the President’s Message. The opposition party have triumphed and this is a severe blow upon the prospects of the present administration.1 My own opinion is that their fate is decided and that all the rest will be nothing but a fiery struggle against it. And our own prospects are gloomy beyond description. I attended Meeting in the afternoon but did not think much of the Sermon. My ideas were elsewhere. In the evening I talked with Abby.
On 3 December Andrew Stevenson of Virginia, with the support of Martin Van Buren, defeated John W. Taylor, of New York, in the contest for the speakership of the House of Representatives. “There is a decided majority of both Houses of Congress in opposition to the Administration,” JQA noted, “a State of things which has never before occurred under the Government of the United States” (JQA, Diary, 29 Nov. and 3 Dec. 1827).