For at least a year John Adams continued to believe that the United States would not be respected by other nations and that the best people would not be attracted to public service unless more prestigious titles were given to government officials. These beliefs sometimes made him the object of derision, as this riddle shows.
 

Quis? By T[homas] T[udor] T[ucker] M.D.
In Gravity clad,
He has nought in his Head,
But Visions of Nobles & Kings
With Commons below,
Who respectfully bow,
And worship the dignified Things

The Answer Impromtu' by P[age]
I'll tell in a Trice-
'Tis Old Daddy Vice
Who carries Pride an Ass-load;
Who turns up his Nose

Wherever he goes
With Vanity swell'd like a Toad