Dayton City (part 11 of 50)

HOMAS JEFFERSON, third president of the United States, was born April 2, 1743, at Shadwell, Albemarle county, Va. His parents were Peter and Jane (Randolph) Jefferson, the former a native of Wales, and the latter born in London. To them were born six daughters and two sons, of whom Thomas was the eldest. When fourteen years of age his father died. He received a most liberal education, having been kept diligently at school from the time he was five years of age. In 1760 he entered William and Mary college. Williamsburg was then the seat of the colonial court, and it was the abode of fashion and splendor. Young Jefferson, who was then seventeen years old, lived somewhat expensively, keeping fine horses, and was much caressed by gay society, yet he was earnestly devoted to his studies, and irreproachable in his morals. In the second year of his college course, moved by some unexplained inward impulse, he discarded his horses, society, and even his favorite violin, to which he had previously given much time. He often devoted fifteen hours a day to hard study, allowing himself for exercise only a run in the evening twilight of a mile out of the city and back again. He thus attained very high intellectual culture, and excellence in philosophy and the languages. The most difficult Latin and Greek authors he read with facility.

Immediately upon leaving college he began the study of law. For the short time he continued in the practice of his profession he rose rapidly and distinguished himself by his energy and acuteness as a lawyer. But the times called for greater action. The policy of England had awakened the spirit of resistance of the American colonies, and the enlarged views which Jefferson had ever entertained soon led him into active political life. In 1769 he was chosen a member of the Virginia house of burgesses. In 1772 he married Mrs. Martha Skelton, a very beautiful, wealthy and highly accomplished young widow.

Upon Mr. Jefferson's large estate at Shadwell, there was a majestic swell of land, called Monticello, which commanded a prospect of wonderful extent and beauty. This spot Mr. Jefferson selected for his new home; and here he reared a mansion of modest yet elegant architecture, which, next to Mount Vernon, became the most distinguished resort in our land.

In 1775 he was sent to the colonial congress, where, though a silent member, his abilities as a writer and a reasoner soon became known, and he was placed upon a number of important committees, and was chairman of the one appointed for the drawing up of a declaration of independence. This committee consisted of Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman and Robert R. Livingston. Jefferson, as chairman, was appointed to draw up the paper. Franklin and Adams suggested a few verbal changes before it was submitted to congress. On June 28, a few slight changes were made in it by congress, and it was passed and signed July 4, 1776. What must have been the feelings of that man - what the emotions that swelled his breast - who was charged with the preparation of that declaration, which, while it made known the wrongs of America, was also to publish her to the world, free, sovereign and independent!

In 1779 Mr. Jefferson was elected successor to Patrick Henry, as governor of Virginia. At one time the British officer, Tarleton, sent a secret expedition to Monticello, to capture the governor. Scarcely five minutes elapsed after the hurried escape of Mr. Jefferson and his family ere his mansion was in possession of the British troops. His wife's health, never very good, was much injured by this excitement and in the summer of 1782 she died.

Mr. Jefferson was elected to congress in 1783. Two years later he was appointed minister plenipotentiary to France. Returning to the United States in September, 1789, he became secretary of state in Washington's cabinet. This position he resigned January 1, 1794. In 1797, he was chosen vice president and four years later was elected president over Mr. Adams, with Aaron Burr as vice president. In 1804 he was re-elected with wonderful unanimity, and George Clinton, vice president.

The early part of Mr. Jefferson's second administration was disturbed by an event which threatened the tranquility and peace of the Union; this was the conspiracy of Aaron Burr. Defeated in the late election to the vice presidency, and led on by an unprincipled ambition, this extraordinary man formed the plan of a military expedition into the Spanish territories on our southwestern frontier, for the purpose of forming there a new republic.

In 1809, at the expiration of the second term for which Mr. Jefferson had been elected, he determined to retire from political life. For a period of nearly forty years, he had been continually before the public, and all that time had been employed in offices of the greatest trust and responsibility. Having thus devoted the best part of his life to the service of his country, he now felt desirous of that rest which his declining years required, and upon the organization of the new administration, in March, 1809, he bade farewell forever to public life, and retired to Monticello.

The 4th of July, 1826, being the fiftieth anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, great preparations were made in every part of the Union for its celebration, as the nation's jubilee, and the citizens of Washington, to add to the solemnity of the occasion, invited Mr. Jefferson, as the framer, and one of the few surviving signers of the Declaration, to participate in their festivities. But an illness, which had been of several week's duration, and had been continually increasing, compelled him to decline the invitation.

On the 2d of July, the disease under which he was laboring left him, but in such a reduced state that his medical attendants entertained no hope of his recovery. From this time he was perfectly sensible that his last hour was at hand. On the next day, which was Monday, he asked, of those around him, it was the 3d of July, he expressed the earnest wish that he might be permitted to breathe the air of the fiftieth anniversary. His prayer was heard - that day, whose dawn was hailed with such rapture through our land, burst upon his eyes, and then they were closed forever. And what a noble consummation of a noble life ! To die on that day, - the birth of a nation - the day which his own name and own act had rendered glorious; to die amidst the rejoicings and festivities of a whole nation, who looked up to him, as the author, under God, of their greatest blessings, was all that was wanting to fill up the record of his life. Almost at the same hour of his death, the kindred spirit of the venerable Adams, as if to bear him company, left the scene of his earthly honors.

In person Mr. Jefferson was tall and thin, rather above six feet in height, but well formed; his eyes were light, his hair, originally red, in after life became white and silvery; his complexion was fair, his forehead broad, and his whole countenance intelligent and thoughtful. He possessed great fortitude of mind as well as personal courage; and his command of temper was such that his oldest and most intimate friends never recollected to have seen him in a passion. His manners, though dignified, were simple and unaffected, and his hospitality was so unbounded that all found at his house a ready welcome. In conversation he was fluent, eloquent and enthusiastic; and his language was remarkably pure and correct. He was a finished classical scholar, and in his writings is discernable the care with which he formed his style upon the best models of antiquity.

AMES MADISON, fourth president of the United States, was born March 16, 1751, and died at his home in Virginia, June 28, 1836. He was the last of the founders of the Constitution of the United

States to be called to his eternal reward. The Madison family were among the early emigrants to the New World, landing upon the shores of the Chesapeake but fifteen years after the settlement of Jamestown. The father of James Madison was an opulent planter, residing upon a very fine estate called "Montpelier," Orange county, Va. The mansion was situated in the midst of scenery highly picturesque and romantic, on the west side of Southwest Mountain, at the foot of Blue Ridge. It was but twenty-five miles from the home of Jefferson at Monticello. The closest personal and political attachment existed between these illustrious men from their early youth until death.

The early education of Mr. Madison was conducted mostly at home under a private tutor. At the age of eighteen he was sent to Princeton college, in New Jersey. Here he applied himself to study with the most imprudent zeal, allowing himself for months but three hours' sleep out of the twenty-four. His health thus became so seriously impaired that he never recovered any vigor of constitution. He graduated in 1771, when a feeble boy, but with a character of utmost purity, and with a mind highly disciplined and richly stored with learning.

Returning to Virginia, he commenced the study of law and a course of extensive and systematic reading. This educational course, the spirit of the times in which he lived, all combined to inspire him with a strong love of liberty, and to train him for his life-work of a statesman.

In the spring of 1 776, when twenty-five years of age, he was elected a member of the Virginia convention, to frame the constitution of the state. The next year (1777) he was a candidate for the general assembly. He refused to treat the whisky-loving voters, and consequently lost his election; but those who had witnessed the talent, energy and public spirit of the modest young man, enlisted themselves in his behalf and he was appointed to the executive council.

Both Patrick Henry and Thomas Jefferson were governors of Virginia while Mr. Madison remained member of the council; and their appreciation of his intellectual, social and moral worth, contributed not a little to his subsequent eminence. In the year 1780, he was elected a member of the continental congress. Here he met the most illustrious men in our land, and he was immediately assigned to one of the most conspicuous positions among them. For three years Mr. Madison continued in congress, one of its most active and influential members. In the year 1784, his term having expired, he was elected a member of the Virginia legislature.

No man felt more deeply than Mr. Madison ' the utter inefficiency of the old confederacy, with no national government, with no power to form treaties which would be binding, or to enforce law. There was not any state more prominent than Virginia in the declaration, that an efficient national government must be formed. In January, 1786, Mr. Madison carried a resolution through the general assembly of Virginia, inviting the other states to appoint commissioners to meet in convention at Annapolis to discuss the subject. Five states only were represented. The convention, however, issued another call, drawn up by Mr. Madison, urging all the states to send their delegates to Philadelphia, in May, 1787, to draft a constitution for the United States, to take the place of that confederate league. The delegates met at the time appointed. Every state but Rhode Island was represented. George Washington was chosen president of the convention; and the present constitution of the United States was then and there formed. There was, perhaps, no mind and no pen more active in

The constitution, adopted by a vote of 81 to 79, was to be presented to the several states for acceptance. But grave solicitude was felt. Should it be rejected we should be left but a conglomeration of independent states, with but little power at home and little respect abroad. Mr. Madison was selected by the convention to draw up an address to the people of the United States, expounding the principles of the constitution, and urging its adoption. There was great opposition to it at first, but it at length triumphed over all, and went into effect in 1 789.

Mr. Madison was elected to the house of representatives in the first congress, and soon became the avowed leader of the republican party. While in New York attending congress, he met Mrs. Todd, a young widow of remarkable power of fascination, whom he married. She was in person and character queenly, and probably no lady has thus far occupied so prominent a position in the very peculiar society which has constituted our republican court, as Mrs. Madison.

Mr. Madison served as secretary of state under Jefferson, and at the close of his administration was chosen president. At this time the encroachments of England had brought us to the verge of war. British orders in council destroyed our commerce, and our flag was exposed to constant insult. Mr. Madison was a man of peace. Scholarly in his taste, retiring in his disposition, war had no charms for him. But the meekest spirit can be roused. It makes one's blood boil, even now, to think of an American ship brought to upon the ocean by the guns of an English cruiser. A young lieutenant steps on board and orders the crew to be paraded before him. With great nonchalance he selects any number whom he may please to designate as British subjects; orders them down the ship's side into the boat; and places them on the gun-deck of the man-of-war to fight, by compulsion, the battles of England. This right of search and impressment, no efforts of our government could induce the British cabinet to relinquish.

On the 1 8th of June, 1812, President Madison gave his approval to an act of congress declaring war against Great Britain. Notwithstanding the bitter hostility of the federal party to the war, the country in general approved; and Mr. Madison, on the 4th of March, 1813, was re-elected by a large majority, and entered upon his second term of office. The contest commenced in earnest by the appearance of a British fleet early in February, 1813, in Chesapeake bay, declaring nearly the whole coast of the United States under blockade. The emperor of Russia offered his services as mediator. America accepted; England refused. A British force of five thousand men landed on the banks of the Patuxant river, near its entrance into Chesapeake bay, and marched rapidly, by way of Bladensburg, upon Washington.

The straggling little city of Washington was thrown into consternation. The cannon of the brief conflict at Bladensburg echoed through the streets of the metropolis. The whole population fled from the city. The president, leaving Mrs. Madison in the White House, with her carriage drawn up at the door to await his speedy return, hurried to meet the officers in a council of war. He met our troops utterly routed, and he could not go back without danger of being captured. But few hours elapsed ere the presidential mansion, the capitol, and all the public buildings in Washington were in flames.

March 4, 1817, James Madison's second term of office expired, and he resigned the presidential chair to his friend, James Monroe. He retired to his beautiful home at Montpelier and there passed the remainder of his days. On June 28, 1836, then at the age of eightyfive years, he fell asleep in death. Mrs. Madison died July 12, 1849.

AMES MONROE, the fifth president of the United States, was born in Westmoreland county, Va. , April 28, 1758. He joined the colonial army when everything looked hopeless and gloomy. The number of deserters increased from day to day. The invading armies came pouring in, and the tories not only favored the cause of the mother country, but disheartened the new recruits, who were sufficiently terrified at the prospect of contending with an enemy whom they had been taught to deem invincible. To such brave spirits as James Monroe, who went right onward undismayed through difficulty and danger, the United States owe their political emancipation. The young cadet joined the ranks and espoused the cause of his injured country, with a firm determination to live or die with her strife for liberty. Firmly, yet sadly, he shared in the melancholy retreat from Harlaem Heights and White Plains, and accompanied the dispirited army as it fled before its foes through New Jersey. In four months after the Declaration of Independence, the patriots had been beaten in seven battles. At the battle of Trenton he led the vanguard, and, in the act of charging upon the enemy he received a wound in the left shoulder. As a reward for his bravery, Mr. Monroe was promoted a captain of infantry; and, having recovered from his wound, he rejoined the army. He, however, receded from the line of promotion by becoming an officer on the staff of Lord Stirling. During the campaigns of 1777 and 1778, in the actions of Brandywine, Germantown, and Monmouth, he continued aid-de-camp; but becoming desirous to regain his position in the army, he exerted himself to collect a regiment for the Virginia line. This scheme failed owing to the exhausted condition of the state. Upon this failure he entered the office of Mr. Jefferson, at that period governor, and pursued with considerable ardor the study of common law. He did not, however, entirely lay aside the knapsack for the green bag; but on the invasions of the enemy, served as a volunteer during the two years of his legal pursuits.

In 1782, he was elected from King George county a member of the legislature of Virginia, and by that body he was elevated to a seat in the executive council. He was thus honored with the confidence of his fellow citizens at twenty-three years of age; and at this early period displayed some of that ability and aptitude for legislation, which were afterward employed with unremitting energy for the public good; he was in the succeeding year chosen a member of the copgress of the United States.

Deeply as Mr. Monroe felt the imperfections of the old confederacy, he was opposed to the new constitution, thinking, with many others of the republican party, that it gave too much power to the central government, and not enough to the individual states. In 1789 he became a member of the United States senate, which office he held for four years. Every month the line of distinction between the two great parties which divided the nation, the federal and the republican, was growing more distinct. The two prominent ideas which now separated them were, that the republican party was in sympathy with France, and also in favor of such a strict construction of the constitution as to give the central government as little power, and the state governments as much power, as the constitution would warrant. The federalists sympathized with England, and were in favor of a liberal construction of the constitution, which would give as much power to the central government as that \ document could possibly authorize.

Washington was then president. England had espoused the cause of the Bourbons k against the principles of the French revolution. All Europe was drawn into the conflict. ! We were feeble and far away. Washington issued a proclamation of neutrality between these contending powers. France had helped us in the struggle for our liberties. All the despotisms of Europe were combined to prevent the French from escaping from a tyranny a thousand-fold worse than that which we had endured. Col. Monroe, more magnanimous than prudent, was anxious that, at whatever hazard, we should help our old allies in their extremity. It was the impulse of a generous and noble nature. He violently opposed the president's proclamation as ungrateful and 1 wanting in magnanimity. -

Washington, who could appreciate such a character, developed his clam, serene, almost > divine greatness, by appointing that very ! James Monroe, who was denouncing the policy of the government, as the minister of that government to the republic of France. Mr. Monroe was welcomed by the national convention in France with the most enthusiastic demonstrations.

Shortly after his return to this country, Mr. Monroe was elected governor of Virginia, and j held the office for three years. He was again sent to France to co-operate with Chancellor Livingston in obtaining the vast territory then known as the province of Louisiana, which France had but shortly before obtained from Spain. Their united efforts were successful. For the comparatively small sum of fifteen millions of dollars, the entire territory of Orleans and district of Louisiana were added to the United States. This was probably the largest transfer of real estate which was ever made in all the history of the world.

From France Mr. Monroe went to England to obtain from that country some recognition of our rights as neutrals, and to remonstrate against those odious impressments of our seamen. But England was unrelenting. He again returned to England on the same mission, but could receive no redress. He returned to his home and was again chosen governor of Virginia. This he soon resigned to accept the position of secretary of state under Madison. While in this office war with England was declared, the secretary of war resigned, and during those trying times the duties of the war department were also put upon him. He was truly the armor-bearer of President Madison, and the most efficient business man in his cabinet. Upon the return of peace he resigned the department of war, but continued in the office of secretary of state until the expiration of Mr. Madison's administration. At the election held the previous autumn Mr. Monroe had been chosen president with but little opposition, and upon March 4, 1817, was inaugurated. Four years later he was elected for a second term.

Among the important measures of his presidency were the cession of Florida to the United States; the Missouri compromise, and the "Monroe doctrine." This famous "Monroe doctrine" was enunciated by him in 1823. At that time the United States had recognized the independence of the South American states, and did not wish to have European powers longer attempt to subdue portions of the American continent. The doctrine is as follows: "That we should consider any attempt on the part of European powers to extend their system to any portion of this hemisphere as dangerous to our peace and safety," and "that we could not view any interposition for the purpose of oppressing or controlling American governments or provinces in any other light than as a manifestation by European powers of an unfriendly disposition toward the United States." This doctrine immediately affected the course of foreign governments, and has become the approved sentiment of the United States.

At the end of his second term Mr. Monroe retired to his home in Virginia, where he lived until 1830, when he went to New York to live with his son-in-law. In that city he died on the 4th of July, 1831.

>y*OHN QUINCY ADAMS, the sixth £ president of the United States, was 1 born in Quincy, Mass., on the 1 ith of July, 1767. His mother, a woman of exalted worth, watched over his childhood during the almost constant absence of his father.

When but eleven years old he took a tearful adieu of his mother, to sail with his father for Europe, through a fleet of hostile British cruisers. The bright, animated boy spent a year and a half in Paris, where his father was associated with Franklin and Lee as minister plenipotentiary. His intelligence attracted the notice of these distinguished men, and he received from them flattering marks of attention.

Mr. John Adams had scarcely returned tc this country, in 1779, ere he was again sent abroad. Again John Quincy accompanied his father. At Paris he applied himself with great diligence, for six months, to study; then accompanied his father to Holland, where he entered first a school in Amsterdam, then the university at Leyden. About a year from this time, in 1781, when the manly boy was but fourteen years of age, he was selected by Mr. Dana, our minister to the Russian court, as his private secretary.

In this school of incessant labor and of ennobling culture he spent fourteen months, and then returned to Holland through Sweden, Denmark, Hamburg and Bremen. This long journey he took alone, in the winter, when in his sixteenth year. Again he resumed his studies, under a private tutor, at Hague. Thence, in the spring of 1782, he accompanied his father to Paris, traveling leisurely, and examining architectural remains, galleries of paintings and all renowned works of art. At Paris he again became associated with the most illustrious men of all lands in the contemplations of the loftiest temporal themes which can engross the human mind. After a short visit to England he returned to Paris, and consecrated all his energies to study until May, 1785, when he returned to America.

After leaving Harvard college at the age of twenty, he studied law for three years. In June, 1794, being then but twenty-seven years of age, he was appointed, by Washington, resident minister at the Netherlands. Sailing from Boston in July, he reached London in October, where he was immediately admitted to the deliberations of Messrs. Jay and Pinckney, assisting them in negotiating a commercial treaty with Great Britain. After thus spending a fortnight in London, he proceeded to the Hague.

In July, 1797, he left the Hague to go to Portugal as minister plenipotentiary, On his way to Portugal, upon arriving in London, he met with despatches directing him to the court of Berlin, but requesting him to remain in London until he should receive his instructions. While waiting he was married to an American lady to whom he had been previously engaged - Miss Louisa Catherine Johnson, daughter of Mr. Joshua Johnson, American consul in London.

1799, when, having fulfilled all the purposes of his mission, he solicited his recall. Soon after his return, in 1802, he was chosen to the senate of Massachusetts from Boston, and then was elected senator of the United States for six years, from the 4th of March, 1804. His reputation, his ability and his experience, placed him immediately among the most prominent and influential members of that body. Especially did he sustain the government in its measures of resistance to the encroachments of England, destroying our commerce and insulting our flag.

In 1809, Madison succeeded Jefferson in the presidential chair, and he immediately nominated John Quincy Adams minister to St. Petersburg. Resigning his professorship in Harvard college, he embarked at Boston, in August, 1809. While in Russia, Mr. Adams was an intense student. He devoted his attention to the language and history of Russia; to the Chinese trade; to the European system of weights, measures, and coins; to the climate and astronomical observations; while he kept up a familiar acquaintance with the Greek and Latin classics. All through life the Bible constituted an important part of his studies. It was his rule to read five chapters every day.

On the 4th of March, 1817, Mr. Monroe took the presidential chair, and immediately appointed Mr. Adams secretary of state. Taking leave of his friends in public and private life in Europe, he sailed in June, 1819, for the United States. On the 18th of August, he again crossed the threshold of his home in Quincy. During the eight years of Mr. Monroe's administration, Mr. Adams continued secretary of state.

Some time before the close of Mi. Me roe's second term of office, new candidates began to be presented for the presidency. The friends of Mr. Adams brought forward his name. It was an exciting campaign. Party spirit was never more bitter. Two hundred and sixty electoral votes were cast. Andrew Jackson received ninety-nine; John Quincy Adams, eighty-four; William H. Crawford, forty-one; Henry Clay, thirty-seven. As there was no choice by the people, the question went to the house of representatives. Mr. Clay gave the vote of Kentucky to Mr. Adams, and he was elected.

Mr, Adams was, to a very remarkable degree, abstemious and temperate in his habits; always rising early, and taking much exercise. When at his home in Quincy, he has been known to walk, before breakfast, seven miles to Boston. In Washington, it was said that he was the first man up in the city, lighting his own fire and applying himself to work in his library often long before dawn.

On the 4th of March, 1829, Mr. Adams retired from the presidency, and was suceeded by Andrew Jackson. John C. Calhoun was elected vice president. The slavery question now began to assume portentous magnitude. Mr. Adams returned to Quincy, and to his studies, which he pursued with unabated zeal. But he was not long permitted to remain in retirement. In November, 1830, he was elected representative to congress. For seventeen years, until his death, he occupied the post as representative, ever ready to do brave battle for freedom, and winning the title of "the old man eloquent." Upon taking his seat in the house, he announced that he should hold himself bound to no party. He was usually the first in his place in the morning, and the last to leave his seat in the evening. Not a measure could be brought forward and escape his scrutiny. The battle which Mr. Adams fought almost singly, against the proslavery party in the government, was sublime in its moral daring and heroism. For persisting in presenting petitions for the abolition of slavery, he was threatened with i dictment by the grand jury, with expulsior. from the house, and also with assassination, but no threats could intimidate him and his final triumph was complete.

On the 2 1st of February, 1848, he rose on the floor of congress, with a paper in his hand, to address the speaker. Suddenly he fell, again stricken by paralysis, and was caught in the arms of those around him. For a time he was senseless, as he was conveyed to the sofa in the rotunda. With reviving consciousness, he opened his eyes, looked calmly around and said: "This is the end of earth;" then,

HNDREW JACKSON, the seventh president of the United States, was born in Waxhaw settlement, N. C., March 15, 1767, a few days after his father's death. His parents were from Ireland, and took up their abode in Waxhaw settlement, where they lived in deepest poverty.

Andrew, or Andy, as he was universally called, grew up a very rough, rude, turbulent boy. His features were coarse, his form ungainly; and there was but very little in his character, made visible, which was attractive.

When only thirteen years old he joined the volunteers of Carolina against the British invasion. In 1781, he and his brother Robert were captured and imprisoned for a time at Camden. A British officer ordered him to brush his mud-spattered boots. " I am a prisoner of war, not your servant," was the reply of the dauntless boy. The brute drew his sword, and aimed a desperate blow at the head of the helpless young prisoner. Andrew raised his hand, and thus recived two fearful gashes - one on the hand and the other upon the head. The officer then turned to his brother Robert with the same demand. He also refused, and received a blow from the keen-edged saber, which quite disabled him, and which probably soon after caused his death. They suffered much other ill-treatment, and were finally stricken with the smallpox. Their mother was successful in obtaining their exchange, and took her sick boys home. After a long illness Andrew recovered, and the death of his mother soon left him entirely friendless.

Andrew supported himself in various ways, such as working at the saddler's trade, teaching school and clerking in a general store, until 1784, when he entered a law office at Salisbury, N. C. In 1 788, he was appointed solicitor for the western district of North Carolina, of which Tennessee was then apart. This involved many long and tedious journeys amid dangers of every kind, but Andrew Jackson never knew fear.

In 1791, Jackson was married to a woman who supposed herself divorced from her former husband. Great was the surprise of both parties, two years later, to find that the conditions of the divorce had just been definitely settled by the first husband. The marriage ceremony was performed a second time, but the occurrence was often used by his enemies to bring Mr. Jackson into disfavor. During these years he worked hard at his profession, and frequently had one or more duels on hand, one of which, when he killed Dickinson, was especially disgraceful.

In January, 1796, the territory of Tennessee then containing nearly 80,000 inhabitants, the people met in convention at Knoxville to frame a constitution. Five were sent from each of the eleven counties. Andrew Jackson was one of the delegates. The new state was entitled to but one member in the national house of representatives. Andrew Jackson was chosen that member. Mounting his horse he

Jackson was an earnest advocate of the democratic party. Jefferson was his idol. He admired Bonaparte, loved France and hated England. As Jackson took his seat, Gen. Washington, whose second term of office was then expiring, delivered his last speech to congress. A committee drew up a complimentary address in reply. Andrew Jackson did not approve of the address, and was one of the twelve who voted against it. He was not willing to say that Gen. Washington's administration had been "wise, firm and patriotic. "

Jackson was elected to the United States senate in 1797, but soon resigned. Soon after he was chosen judge of the supreme court of his state, which position he held for six years.

When the war of 1812 with Great Britain commenced, Madison occupied the presidential chair. Aaron Burr sent word to the president that there was an unknown man in the west, Andrew Jackson, who would do credit to a commission if one were conferred upon him. Just at that time Gen. Jackson offered his services and those of 2,500 volunteers. His offer was accepted, and the troops were assembled at Nashville. As the British were hourly expected to make an attack upon New Orleans, where Gen. Wilkinson was in command, he was ordered to descend the river with 1,500 troops to aid Wilkinson. The expedition reached Natchez, and after a delay of several weeks there, the men were ordered back to their homes. But the energy Gen. Jackson had displayed, and his entire devotion to the comfort of his soldiers, won him golden opinions; and he became the most popular man in the state. It was in this expedition that his toughness gave him the nickname of ''Old Hickory. "

Martin Van Buren

Soon after this, while attempting to horsewhip Col. Thomas H. Benton, for a remark that gentleman made about his taking a part as second in a duel, in which a younger brother of Benton's was engaged, he received two severe pistol wounds. While he was lingering upon a bed of suffering news came that the Indians, who had combined under Tecumseh from Florida to the lakes, to exterminate the white settlers, were committing the most awful ravages. Decisive action became necessary. Gen. Jackson, with his fractured bone just beginning to heal, his arm in a sling, and unable to mount his horse without assistance, gave his amazing energies to the raising of an army to rendevous at Fayettesville, Ala.

The Creek Indians had established a strong fort on one of the bends of the Tallapoosa river, near the center of Alabama, about fifty miles below Fort Strother. With an army of 2,000 men, Gen. Jackson traversed the pathless wilderness in a march of eleven days. He reached their fort, called Tohopeka or Horseshoe, on the 27th of March, 1814. The bend of the river inclosed 100 acres of tangled forest and wild ravine. Across the narrow neck the Indians had constructed a formidable breastwork of logs and brush. Here 900 warriors, with an ample supply of arms, were assembled. The fort was stormed. The fight was utterly desperate. Not an Indian would accept of quarter. When bleeding and dying, they would fight those who endeavored to spare their lives. From ten in the morning until dark, the battle raged. The carnage was awful and revolting. Some threw themselves into the river; but the unerring bullet struck their heads as they swam. Nearly every one of the 900 warriors was killed. This closing of the Creek war enabled us to concentrate all our militia upon the British, who were the allies of the Indians. No man of less resolute will than Gen. Jackson could have conducted this Indian

Late in August, with an army of 2,000 men, on a rushing march, Gen. Jackson went to Mobile. A British fleet came from Pensacola, landed a force upon the beach, anchored near the little fort, and from both ship and shore commenced a furious assault. The battle was long and doubtful. At length one of the ships was blown up and the rest retired.

Garrisoning Mobile, Jackson moved his troops to New Orleans, and the battle of New Orleans, which soon ensued, was in reality a very arduous campaign. Here his troops, which numbered about 4,000 men, won a signal victory over the British army of about 9,000. His loss was but thirteen, while the loss of the British was 2,600.

The name of Gen. Jackson soon began to be mentioned in connection with the presidency, but, in 1824, he was defeated by Mr. Adams. He was, however, successful in the election of 1828, and was re-elected for a second term in 1832. In 1829, he met with the most terrible affliction of his life in the death of his wife. At the expiration of his two terms of office he retired to the Hermitage, where he died June 8, 1845. The last years of Jackson's life were that of a devoted Christian man.

QARTIN VAN BUREN, the eighth president of the United States, was born at Kinderhook, N. Y., December 5, 1782. He died at the same place, July 24, 1862, and his body rests in the cemetery at Kinderhook. Above it is a plain granite shaft fifteen feet high, bearing a simple inscription about half way up on the face. The lot is unfenced, unbordered or unbounded by shrub or flower. His ancestors, as his name indicates, were of Dutch origin, and were among the earliest emigrants from Holland to the banks of the Hudson. His father was a farmer, residing in the old town of Kinderhook. His mother, also of Dutch lineage, was a woman of superior intelligence and exemplary piety. At the age of fourteen, he had finished his academic studies in his native village, and commenced the study of law. As he had not a collegiate education seven years of study in a law office were required of him before he could be admitted to the bar. Inspired with a lofty ambition, and conscious of his powers, he pursued his studies with indefatigable industry, After spending six years in an office in his native village, he went to the city of New York, and prosecuted his studies for the seventh year.

In 1803, Van Buren, then twenty-one years of age, commenced the practice of law in his native village. The great conflict between the federal and republican parties was then at its height. Van Buren was in cordial sympathy with Jefferson, and earnestly and ' eloquently espoused the cause of state rights; though at that time the federal party held the supremacy both in his town and state. His success and increasing reputation led him after six years of practice, to remove to Hudson, the county seat of his county. Here he spent seven years, constantly gaining strength by contending in the courts with some of the ablest men who have adorned the bar of his state.

just before leaving Kinderhook for Hudson, Mr. VanBuren married a lady alike distinguished for beauty and accomplishments. After twelve short years she 'sank into the grave, the victim of consumption, leaving her husband and four sons to weep over her loss. In 1812, when thirty years of age, he was chosen to the state senate, and gave his strenuous support to Mr. Madison's administration. In 1815, he was appointed attorney-general, and

While he was acknowledged as one of the most prominent leaders of the democratic party, he had the moral courage to avow that true democracy did not require that "universal suffrage" which admits the vile, the degraded, the ignorant, to the right of governing the state. In true consistency with his democratic principles, he contended that, while the path leading to the privilege of voting should be open to every man without distinction, no one should be invested with that sacred prerogative, unless he were in some degree qualified for it by intelligence, virtue and some property interests in the welfare of the state.

In 1821 he was elected a member of the United States senate, and in the same year he took a seat in the convention to revise the constitution of his native state. His course in this convention secured the approval of men of all parties. In the senate of the United States, he rose at once to a conspicuous position as an active and useful legislator. In 1827, John Quincy Adams being then in the presidential chair, Mr. Van Buren was reelected to the senate. He had been, from the beginning, a determined opposer to the administration, adopting the state rights view in opposition to what was deemed the federal proclivities of Mr. Adams.

Soon after this, in 1828, he was chosen governor of the state of New York, and accordingly resigned his seat in the senate. Probably no one in the United States contributed so much towards ejecting John Q. Adams from the presidential chair, and placing in it Andrew Jackson, as did Martin Van Buren. Whether entitled to the reputation or not, he certainly was regarded throughout the United States as one of the most skillful, sagacious and cunning politicians. It was sup- posed that no one knew so well as he how to touch the secret springs of action; how to pull all the wires to put his machinery in motion; and how to organize a political army which would, secretly and stealthily, accomplish the most gigantic results. By these powers it is said that he outwitted Mr. Adams, Mr. Clay, Mr. Webster, and secured results which few thought then could be accomplished.

When Andrew Jackson was elected president, he appointed Mr. Van Buren secretary of state. This position he resigned in 1831, and was immediately appointed minister to England, where he went the same autumn. The senate, however, when it met, refused to ratify the nomination, and he returned home, apparently untroubled; was nominated vice president in the place of Calhoun, at the reelection of President Jackson; and with smiles for all and frowns for none, he took his place at the head of that senate which had refused to confirm his nomination as ambassador. His rejection by the senate aroused all the zeal of President Jackson in behalf of his repudiated favorite; and this, probably more than any other cause, secured his elevation to the chair of the chief executive. On the 20th of May, 1836, Van Buren received the democratic nomination to succeed Gen. Jackson as president of the United States. He was elected by a handsome majority, to the delight of the retiring president.

His administration was filled with exciting events. The insurrection in Canada, which threatened to involve this country in war with England, the agitation of the slavery question, and finally the great commercial panic which spread over the country, all were trials to his wisdom. The financial distress was attributed to the management of the democratic party, and brought the president into such disfavor that he failed of re-election. With the exception of being nominated for the presidency

He had ever been a prudent man, of frugal habits, and, living within his income, had now fortunately a competency for his declining years. It was on the 4th of March, 1841, that Mr. Van Buren retired from the presidency. From his fine estate at Lindenwald, he still exerted a powerful influence upon the politics of the country. From this time until his death, on the 24th of July, 1862, at the age of eighty years, he resided at Lindenwald, a gentleman of leisure, of culture and of wealth; enjoying in a healthy old age, probably far more happiness than he had before experienced amid the stormy scenes of his active life.

ILLIAM HENRY HARRISON, the ninth president of the United States; was born at Berkeley, Va., Feb. 9, 1773. His father, Benjamin Harrison, was in comparatively opulent circumstances, and was one of the most distinguished men of his day. He was an intimate friend of George Washington, was early elected a member of the continental congress, and was conspicuous among the patriots of Virginia in resisting the encroachments of the British crown. In the celebrated congress of 1775, Benjamin Harrison and John Hancock were both candidates for the office of speaker.

Having received a thorough commonschool education, William Henry Harrison entered Hampden Sidney college, where he graduated with honor soon after the death of his father. He then repaired to Philadelphia to study medicine under the instructions of Dr. Rush and the guardianship of Robert

Upon the outbreak of the Indian troubles, and notwithstanding the remonstrances of his friends, he abandoned his medical studies and entered the army, having obtained a commission of ensign from President Washington. He was then but nineteen years old. From that time he passed gradually upward in rank until he became aid to Gen. Wayne, after whose death he resigned his commission. He was then appointed secretary of the Northwestern territory. This territory was then entitled to but one member in congress, and Capt. Harrison was chosen to fill that position.

In the spring of 1800 the Northwestern territory was divided by congress into two portions. The eastern portion, comprising the region now embraced in the state of Ohio, was called "The Territory northwest of the Ohio." The western portion, which included what is now called Indiana, Illinois, and Wisconsin, was called the "Indiana territory." William Henry Harrison, then twenty-seven years of age, was appointed, by John Adams, governor of the Indiana territory, and immediately after, also governor of upper Louisiana. He was thus ruler over almost as extensive a realm as any sovereign upon the globe. He was superintendent of Indian affairs, and was invested with powers nearly dictatorial over the now rapidly increasing white population. The ability and fidelity with which he discharged these responsible duties may be inferred from the fact that he was four times appointed to this office - first by John Adams, twice by Thomas Jefferson and afterward by President Madison.

When he began his administration there were but three white settlements in that almost boundless region, now crowded with cities and resounding with all the tumult of wealth and traffic. One of these settlements

The vast wilderness over which Gov. Harrison reigned was filled with many tribes of Indians. About the year 1806, two extraordinary men, twin brothers, of the Shawnee tribe, rose among them. One of these was called Tecumseh, or "The Crouching Panther;" the other, Olliwacheca, or "The Prophet." Tecumseh was not only an Indian warrior, but a man of great sagacity, farreaching foresight and indomitable perseverance in any enterprise in which he might engage. He was inspired with the highest enthusiasm, and had long regarded with dread and with hatred the encroachments of the whites upon the hunting grounds of his fathers. His brother, the Prophet, was an orator, who could sway the feelings of the untutored Indian as the gale tossed the tree-tops beneath which they dwelt.

Gov. Harrison made many attempts to conciliate the Indians, but at last the war came, and at Tippecanoe the Indians were routed with great slaughter. October 28, 1812, his army began its march. When near the Prophet's town three Indians of rank made their appearance and inquired why Gov. Harrison was approaching them in so hostile an attitude. After a short conference, arrangements were made for a meeting the next day, to agree upon terms of peace. But Gov. Harrison was too well acquainted with the Indian character to be deceived by such protestations. Selecting a favorable spot for his night's encampment, he took every precaution against surprise. His troops were posted in a hollow square, and slept upon their arms. The troops threw themselves upon the ground for rest; but every man had his accoutrements on, his loaded musket by his side, and his bayonet fixed. The wakeful governor, between three and four o'clock" in the morning, had risen and was sitting in conversation with his aids by the embers of a waning fire. It was a chill, cloudy morning with a drizzling rain. In the darkness, the Indians had crept as near as possible, and just then, with a savage yell, rushed with all the desperation which superstition and passion most highly inflamed could give, upon the left flank of the little army. The savages had been amply provided with guns and ammunition by the English. Their war-whoop was accompanied by a shower of bullets. The camp-fires were instantly extinguished, as the light aided the Indians in their aim. With hideous yells, the Indian bands rushed on, not doubting a speedy and entire victory. But Gen. Harrison's troops stood as immovable as the rocks around them until day dawned; they then made a simultaneous charge with the bayonet, and swept everything before them, and completely routed the foe. Gov. Harrison now had all his energies tasked to the utmost. The British, descending from the Canadas, were of themselves a very formidable force; but with their savage allies, rushing like wolves from the forest, searching out every remote farm house, burning, plundering, scalping, torturing, the wide frontier was plunged into a state of consternation which even the most vivid imagination can but faintly conceive. Gen. Hull had made the ignominious surrender of his forces at Detroit. Under these despairing circumstances, Gov. Harrison was appointed by President Madison commander-in-chief of the Northwestern army, with orders to retake Detroit, and to protect the frontiers.

Harrison won the love of his soldiers by always sharing with them their fatigue. His whole baggage, while pursuing the foe up the Thames, was carried in a valise; and his bedding consisted of a single blanket lashed over his saddle. Thirty-five British officers, his prisoners of war, supped with him after the battle. The only fare he could give them was beef roasted before the fire, without bread or salt.

In 1816, Gen. Harrison was chosen a member of the national house of representatives to represent the district of Ohio. In congress he proved an active member, and, whenever he spoke, it was with force of reason and power of eloquence, which arrested the attention of all the members.

In 1819, Harrison was elected to the senate of Ohio; and in 1824, as one of the presidential electors of that state, he gave his vote for Henry Clay. The same year he was chosen to the United States senate.

In 1836, the friends of Gen. Harrison brought him forward as a candidate for the presidency against Van Buren, but he was defeated. At the close of Mr. Van Buren's term, he was re-nominated by his party, and Harrison was unanimously nominated by the whigs, with John Tyler for the vice presidency. The contest was very animated. Gen. Jackson gave all his influence to prevent Harrison's election; but his triumph was signal.

The cabinet which he formed, with Daniel Webster at its head as secretary of state, was one of the most brilliant with which any president had ever been surrounded. In the midst of these bright and joyous prospects, Gen. Harrison was seized by a pleurisy-fever, and, after a few days of violent sickness, died on the 4th of April; just one month after his inauguration as president of the United States.

With the exception, perhaps, of the death of George Washington, the demise of no president of the United States, down to this time, had created a deeper thrill of sympathy throughout the country than that of President Harrison. North and south, his obsequies were observed with unaffected sorrow, and men of all parties seemed to forget differences of opinion in doing honor to the memory of the dead.

OHN TYLER, the tenth president of the United States, was born in Charles City county, Va. , March 29, 1790. At the early age of twelve, John entered William and Mary college and graduated with much honor when but seventeen years old. He devoted himself with great assiduity to the study of law, partly with his father and partly with Edmund Randolph, one of the most distinguished lawyers of Virginia.

At nineteen years of age, he commenced the practice of law. His success was rapid and astonishing. It is said that three months had not elapsed ere there was scarcely a case on the docket of the court in which he was not retained. When but twenty-one years of age, he was almost unanimously elected to a seat in the state legislature. He connected himself with the democratic party, and warmly advocated the measures of Jefferson and Madison. For five successive years he was elected to the legislature, receiving nearly the unanimous vote of his county.

When but twenty-six years of age, he was elected a member of congress. Here he acted earnestly and ably with the democratic party, opposing a national bank, internal improvements by the general government, a protective tariff, and advocating a strict construction of the constitution, and the most careful vigilance over state rights. His labors in congress were so arduous that before the close of his second term he found it necessary to resign and retire to his estate in Charles City county, to recruit his health. He, however, soon after consented to take his seat in the state legislature, where his influence was powerful in promoting public works of great utility. He was then chosen by a very large majority of votes, governor of his native state. His administration was signally a successful one, and his popularity secured his re-election.

John Randolph, a brilliant, erratic, halfcrazed man, then represented Virginia in the senate of the United States. A portion of the democratic party was displeased with Mr. Randolph's wayward course, and brought forward John Tyler as his opponent, and Tyler was the victor. In accordance with his professions, upon taking his seat in the senate, he joined the ranks of the opposition. He opposed the tariff; he spoke against and voted against the bank as unconstitutional; he strenuously opposed all restrictions upon slavery, resisting all projects of internal improvements by the general government, and avowed his sympathy with Mr. Calhoun's view of nullification; he declared that Gen. Jackson, by his opposition to the nullifiers, had abandoned the principles of the democratic party. Such was Mr. Tyler's record in congress - a record in perfect accordance with the principles which he had always avowed.

Returning to Virginia, he resumed the practice of his profession. There was a split in the democratic party. His friends still regarded him as a true Jeffersonian, gave him a dinner, and showered compliments upon him. He had now attained the age of forty-six. Soon after this he removed to Williamsburg, for the better education of his children; and he again took his seat in the legislature of Virginia.

By the southern whigs, he was sent to the national convention at Harrisburg to nominate a president in 1839. The majority of votes were given to Gen. Harrison, a genuine whig, much to the disappointment of the south, who wished for Henry Clay. To conciliate the southern whigs and to secure their vote, the convention then nominated John Tyler for vice president. Thus it happened that a whig president and, in reality, a democratic vice president were chosen.

John Tyler

month from that time Pres. Harrison died, and Mr. Tyler thus found himself, to his own surprise and that of the whole nation, an occupant of the presidential chair. This was a new test of the stability of our institutions, as it was the first time in the history of our country that such an event had occurred. Mr. Tyler was at home in Williamsburg when he received the unexpected tidings of the death of Pres. Harrison. He hastened to Washington, and on the 6th of April was inaugurated to the high and responsible office. Gen. Harrison had selected a whig cabinet. Should he retain them, and thus surround himself with counselors whose views were antagonistic to his own? or, on the other hand, should he turn against the party which had elected him and select a cabinet in harmony with himself, and which would oppose all those views which the whigs deemed essential to the public welfare? This was his fearful dilemma, and so he invited the cabinet which Pres. Harrison had selected to retain their seats.

The whigs carried through congress a bill for the incorporation of a fiscal bank of the United States. The president, after ten days' delay, returned it with his veto. He suggested, however, that he would approve of a bill drawn up upon such a plan as he proposed. Such a bill was accordingly prepared, and privately submitted to him. He gave it his approval. It was passed without alteration, and he sent it back with his veto. Here commenced the open rupture. It is said that Mr. Tyler was provoked to this measure by a published letter from the Hon. John M. Botts, a distinguished Virginia whig, who severely touched the pride of the president.

The opposition now exultingly received the president into their arms. The party which elected him denounced him bitterly. All the members of his cabinet, excepting Mr. Webster, resigned. The whigs of congress, both the senate and the house, held a meeting and issued an address to the people of the United States, proclaiming that all political alliances between the whigs and Pres. Tyler were at an end.

Still the president attempted to conciliate. He appointed a new cabinet of distinguished whigs and conservatives, carefully leaving out all strong party men. Mr. Webster soon found it necessary to resign, forced out by the pressure of his whig friends. Thus the four years of Mr. Tylor's unfortunate administration passed sadly away. More and more, however, he brought himself into sympathy with his old friends, the democrats, until, at the close of his term, he gave his whole influence to the support of Mr. Polk, the democratic candidate for his successor.

On the 4th of March, 1845, he retired from office, to the regret of neither party, and probably to his own unspeakable relief. His first wife, Miss Letitia Christian, died in Washington, in 1842; and in June, 1844, Pres. Tyler was again married, at New York, to Miss Julia Gardiner, a young lady of many personal and intellectual accomplishments.

The remainder of his days Mr. Tyler passed mainly in retirement at his beautiful home - Sherwood Forest, Charles City county, Va. A polished gentleman in his manners, richly furnished with information from books and experience in the world, and possessing brilliant powers of conversation, his family circle was the scene of unusual attractions. With sufficient means for the exercise of a generous hospitality, he might have enjoyed a serene old age with the few friends who gathered around him, were it not for the storms of civil war which his own principles and policy had helped to introduce.

When the great rebellion rose, which the state rights and nullifying doctrines of John C. Calhoun had inaugurated, Pres. Tyler renounced his allegiance to the United States, and joined the confederates. He was chosen a member of their congress; and while engaged in active measures to destroy, by force of arms, the government over which he had once presided, he was taken sick and soon died.

AMES KNOX POLK, the eleventh president of the United States, was born in Mecklenburg county, N. C. , November 2, 1795. His parents were Samuel and Jane (Knox) Polk, the former a son of Col. Thomas Polk, who located at the above place, as one of the first pioneers, in 1735-

In the year 1806, with his wife and children, and soon after followed by most of the members of the Polk family, Samuel Polk emigrated some two or three hundred miles further west, to the rich valley of the Duck river, Tenn. Here, in the midst of the wilderness, in a region which was subsequently called Maury county, they reared their log huts, and established their homes. In the hard toil of a new farm in the wilderness, James K. Polk spent the early years of his childhood and youth. His father, adding the pursuit of a surveyor to that of a farmer, gradually increased in wealth until he became one of the leading men of the region.

Very early in life, James developed a taste for reading and expressed the strongest desire to obtain a liberal education. His mother's training had made him methodical in his habits, had taught him punctuality and industry, and had inspired him with lofty principles of morality. His health was frail; and his father, fearing that he might not be able to endure a sedentary life, got a situation for him behind the counter, hoping to fit him for commercial pursuits. He remained in this uncongenial occupation but a few weeks, when at his earnest solicitation his father removed him, and made arrangements for him to prosecute his studies. Soon after he sent him to Murfreesboro academy. In the autumn of 1815 he entered the sophomore class in the university of North Carolina, at Chapel Hill. He graduated in 1818, with the highest honors, being deemed the best scholar of his class, both in mathematics and classics. He was then twenty-three years of age. Mr. Polk's health was at this time much impaired by the assiduity with which he had prosecuted his studies. After a short season of relaxation he went to Nashville, Tenn., and entered the office of Felix Grundy, to study law. Here Mr. Polk renewed his acquaintance with Andrew Jackson, who resided on his plantation, the Hermitage, but a few miles from Nashville.

James K. Polk was a popular public speaker, and was constantly called upon to address the meetings of his party friends. His skill as a speaker was such that he was popularly called the Napoleon of the stump. He was a man of unblemished morals, genial and courteous in his bearing, and with that sympathetic nature in the joys and griefs of others whichever gave him troops of friends. In 1823, Mr. Polk was elected to the legislature of Tennessee. Here he gave his strong influence toward the election of his friend, Mr. Jackson, to the presidency of the United States.

In January, 1824, Mr. Polk married Miss Sarah Childress, of Rutherford county, Tenn. His bride was altogether worthy of him - a lady of beauty and culture. In the fall of 1825, Mr. Polk was chosen a member of congress. The satisfaction which he gave to his constituents may be inferred from the fact, that for fourteen successive years, until 1839, he was continued in that office. He then voluntarily withdrew, only that he might accept the gubernatorial chair of Tennessee. In congress he was a laborious member, a frequent and popular speaker. He was always in his seat,

During five sessions of congress, Mr. Polk was speaker of the house. Strong passions were aroused, and stormy scenes were witnessed; but Mr. Polk performed his arduous duties to a very general satisfaction, and a unanimous vote of thanks to him was passed by the house as he withdrew on the 4th of March, 1839.

On the 14th of October, 1839, he took the oath of office as governor of Tennessee at Nashville. In 1841, his term of office expired, and he was again the candidate of the democratic party, but was defeated. On the 4th of March, 1845, Mr. Polk was inaugurated president of the United States. The verdict of the country in favor of the annexation of Texas exerted its influence upon congress; and the last act of the administration of President Tyler was to affix his signature to a joint resolution of congress, passed on the 3d of March, approving of the annexation of Texas to the American Union. As Mexico still claimed Texas as one of her provinces, the Mexican minister, Almonte, immediately demanded his passports and left the country, declaring the act of annexation to be an act hostile to Mexico.

In his message, President Polk urged that Texas should immediately, by act of congress, be received into the Union on the same footing with the other states. In the meantime, Gen. Taylor was sent with an army into Texas to hold the country. He was sent first to Nueces, which the Mexicans said was the western boundary of Texas. Then he was sent nearly two hundred miles further west, to the Rio Grande, where he erected batteries which commanded the Mexican city of Matamoras, which was situated on the western banks.

war was declared against Mexico by President Polk. The war was pushed forward by Mr. Polk's administration with great vigor. Gen. Taylor, whose army was first called one of "observation," then of "occupation," then of "invasion," was sent forward to Monterey. The feeble Mexicans, in every encounter, were hopelessly and awfully slaughtered. It was by the ingenuity of Mr. Polk's administration that the war was brought on.

"To the victors belong the spoils." Mexico was prostrate before us. Her capital was in our hands. We now consented to peace upon the condition that Mexico should surrender to us, in addition to Texas, all of New Mexico, and all of Upper and Lower California. This new demand embraced, exclusive of Texas, 800,000 square miles. This was an extent of territory equal to nine states of the size of New York. Thus slavery was securing eighteen majestic states to be added to the Union. In the prosecution of this war we expended 20,000 lives and more than $100,000,- 000. Of this more than $15,000,000 were paid to Mexico.

On the 3d of March, 1849, Mr. Polk retired from office, having served one term. The next day was Sunday. On the 5th, Gen. Taylor was inaugurated as his successor. Mr. Polk rode to the capitol in the same carrriage with Gen. Taylor; and the same evening, with Mrs. Polk, he commenced his return to Tennessee. He was then but fifty-four years of age. He had ever been strictly temperate in all his habits and his health was good. With an ample fortune, a choice library, a cultivated mind, and domestic ties of the dearest nature, it seemed as though long years of tranquility and happiness were before him. But the cholera - the awful scourge - was then sweeping up the valley of the Mississippi. This he contracted, and died on the 1 5th of June, 1 849, in the fifty-fourth year of his age.

ACHARY TAYLOR, twelfth president of the United States, was born on the 24th of November, 1784, in Orange county, Va. His father, Colonel Taylor, was a Virginian of note, and a distinguished patriot and soldier of the Revolution. When Zachary was an infant, his father, with his wife and two children, emigrated to Kentucky, where he settled, a few miles from Louisville. In this frontier home young Zachary could enjoy but few social and educational advantages. When six years of age he attended a common school, and was then regarded as a bright, active boy, rather remarkable for bluntness and decision of character. He was strong, fearless and self-reliant, and manifested a strong desire to enter the army to fight the Indians who were ravaging the frontiers.

In 1808, his father succeeded in obtaining for him the commission of lietenant in the United States army; and he joined the troops which were stationed at New Orleans under Gen. Wilkinson. Soon after this he married Miss Margaret Smith, a young lady from one of the first families of Maryland.

Immediately after the declaration of war with England, in 1812, Capt. Taylor (for he had then been promoted to that rank) was put in command of Fort Harrison, on the Wabash, about fifty miles above Vincennes. This fort had been built in the wilderness by Gen. Harrison, on his march to Tippecanoe. It was one of the first points of attack by the Indians, led by Tecumseh. Its garrison consisted of a broken company of infantry numbering fifty men, many of whom were sick. Early in the autumn of 1812, the Indians, stealthily, and in large numbers, moved upon the fort. Their approach was first indicated by the murder of two soldiers just outside of the stockade. Capt. Taylor made every possible preparation to meet the anticipated assault. On the 4th of September, a band of forty painted and plumed savages came to the fort, waving a white flag, and informed Capt. Taylor that in the morning their chief would come to have a talk with him. It was evident that their object was merely to ascertain the state of things at the fort, and Capt. Taylor, well versed in the wiles of the savages, kept them at a distance. The sun went down; the savages disappeared, the garrison slept upon their arms. One hour before midnight the war-whoop burst from a thousand lips in the forest around, followed by the discharge of musketry, and the rush of the foe. Every man, sick and well, sprang to his post. Every man knew that defeat was not merely death, but in case of capture, death by the most agonizing and prolonged torture. The savages succeeded in setting fire to one of the blockhouses. Until six o'clock in the morning, this awful conflict continued. The savages then, baffled at every point, and gnashing their teeth with rage, retired. Capt. Taylor, for this gallant defense, was promoted to the rank of major by brevet.

Until the close of the war, Major Taylor was placed in such situations that he saw but little more of active service. He was sent far away into the depths of the wilderness, to Fort Crawford, on Fox river, which empties into Green bay. Gradually he rose to the rank of colonel. In the Black Hawk war, which resulted in the capture of that renowned chieftain, Col. Taylor took a subordinate but a brave and efficient part. For twenty-four years Col. Taylor was engaged in the defense of the frontiers, in scenes so remote, and in employments so obscure, that his name was unknown beyond the limits of his own immediate acquaintance. In the year 1836, he was sent to Florida to compel the Seminole Indians to vacate that region and retire beyond the Mississippi, as their chiefs, by treaty, had promised they should do. The services rendered here secured Col. Taylor the high appreciation of the government; and as a reward, he was elevated to the rank of brigadier-general by brevet; and soon after, in May, 1838, was appointed to the chief command of the United States troops in Florida. After two years of such wearisome employment, Gen. Taylor obtained, at his own request, a change of command, and was stationed over the department of the southwest. This field embraced Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia. Establishing his headquarters at Fort Jesup, in Louisiana, he removed his family to a plantation which he purchased near Baton Rouge. Here he remained for five years, buried, as it were, from the world, but faithfully discharging every duty imposed upon him.

In 1846 Gen. Taylor was sent to guard the land between the Nueces and Rio Grande, the latter river being the boundary of Texas, which was then claimed by the United States. Soon the war with Mexico was brought on, and at Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma, Gen. Taylor won brilliant victories over the Mexicans. The rank of major-general by brevet was then conferred upon Gen. Taylor, and his name was received with enthusiasm almost everywhere in the nation. Then came the battles of Monterey and Buena Vista, in which he won signal victories over forces much larger than he commanded. His careless habits of dress and his unaffected simplicity, secured for Gen. Taylor among his troops the sobriquet of "Old Rough and Ready."

The tidings of the brilliant victory of Buena Vista spread the wildest enthusiasm over the country. The whig party decided to take advantage of this wonderful popularity in bringing forward the unpolished, uncultured, honest soldier as their candidate for the presidency. Gen. Taylor was astonished at the announcement. and for a time would not listen to it; declaring that he was not at all qualified for such an office. So little interest had he taken in politics that, for forty years, he had not cast a vote.

Gen. Taylor was not an eloquent speaker nor a fine writer. His friends took possession of him, and prepared such few communications as it was needful should be presented to the public. The popularity of the successful warrior swept the land. He was triumphantly elected over two opposing candidates - Gen. Cass and ex-Pres. Martin Van Buren. Though he selected an excellent cabinet, the good old man found himself in a very uncongenial position, and was, at times, sorely perplexed and harassed. His mental sufferings were very severe, and probably tended to hasten his death. The proslavery party was pushing its claims with tireless energy; expeditions were fitting out to capture Cuba; California was pleading for admission to the Union, while slavery stood at the door to bar her out. Gen. Taylor found the political conflicts in Washington to be far more trying to the nerves than battles . with Mexicans or Indians.

In the midst of all these troubles, Gen. Taylor, after he had occupied the presidential chair but little over a year, took cold, and after a brief sickness, of but litttle over five days, died on the 9th of July, 1850. His last words were; " I am not afraid to die. I am ready. I have endeavored to do my duty. " He died universally respected and beloved.

Gen. Scott, who was thoroughly acquainted with Gen. Taylor, gave the following graphic and truthful description of his character: " With a good store of common sense, Gen. Taylor's mind had not been enlarged and refreshed by reading, or much converse with the world. Rigidity of ideas was the consequence. The frontiers and small military posts had been his home. Hence he was quite ignorant for his rank, and quite bigoted in his ignorance. His simplicity was child-like and with innumerable prejudices, amusing and incorrigible, well suited to the tender age. Thus, if a man, however, respectable, chanced to wear a coat of an unusual color, or his hat a little on one side of his head; or an officer to leave a corner of his handkerchief dangling from an outside pocket - in any such case, this critic held the offender to be a coxcomb (perhaps something worse), whom he would not, to use his oft repeated phase, "touch with a pair of tongs."

ILLARD FILLMORE, thirteenth president of the United States, was born at Summer Hill, Cayuga county, N. Y. , on the 7th of January, 1800. His father was a farmer, and, owing to misfortune, in humble circumstances. Of his mother, the daughter of Dr. Abiathar Millard, of Pittsfield, Mass., it has been said that she possessed an intellect of very high order, united with much personal loveliness, sweetness of disposition, graceful manners and exquisite sensibilities. She died in 1831; having lived to see her son a young man of distinguished promise, though she was not permitted to witness the high dignity which he finally attained.

In consequence of the secluded home and limited means of his father, Millard enjoyed but slender advantages for education in his early years. The sacred influences of home had taught him to revere the Bible, and had laid the foundations of an upright character. When fourteen years of age his father sent him some hundred miles from home, to the then wilds of Livingston county, to learn the trade of a clothier. Near the mill there was a small village, where some enterprising man had commenced the collection of a village j library. This proved an inestimable blessing! to young Fillmore. His evenings were spent j [ in reading. Soon every leisure moment was occupied with books. His thirst for knowledge became insatiate, and the selections which he made were continually more elevating and instructive. He read history, biography, oratory, and thus gradually there was enkindled in his heart a desire to be something more than a mere worker with his hands; and he was becoming, almost unknown to himself, a well informed, educated man.

It so happened that there was a gentleman in the neighborhood of ample pecuniary means and of benevolence - Judge Walter Wood - who was struck with the prepossessing appearance of young Fillmore. He made his acquaintance, and was so much impressed with his ability and attainments that he advised him to abandon his trade and devote himself to the study of law. The young man replied that he had no means of his own, no friends to help him, and that his previous education had been very imperfect. But Judge Wood had so much confidence in him that he kindly offered to take him into his own office, and to loan him such money as he needed. Most gratefully the generous offer was accepted.

In 1823, when twenty-three years of age, he was admitted to the court of common pleas. He then went to the village of Aurora, and commenced the practice of law. In this secluded, peaceful region, his practice, of course, was limited, and there was no opportunity for a sudden rise in fortune or in fame. Here, in the year 1826, he married a lady of great moral worth, and one capable of adorn-

Millard Fillmore

His elevation of character, his untiring industry, his legal acquirements, and his skill as an advocate, gradually attracted attention; and he was invited to enter into partnership, under highly advantageous circumstances, with an elder member of the bar in Buffalo. Just, before removing to Buffalo, in 1829, he took his seat in the house of assembly, of the state of New York, as a representative from Erie county. Though he had never taken a very active part in politics, his vote and his sympathies were with the whig party. The state was then democratic, and he found himself in a helpless minority in the legislature, still the testimony comes from all parties, that his courtesy, ability, and integrity, won, to a very unusual degree, the respect of his associates.

In the autumn of 1832, he was elected to a seat in the United States congress. He entered that troubled arena in some of the most tumultuous hours of our national history. The great conflict respecting the national bank and the removal of the deposits was then raging.

His term of two years closed, and he returned to his profession, which he pursued with increasing reputation and success. After a lapse of two years he again became a candidate for congress; was re-elected, and took his seat in 1837. His past experience as a representative gave him strength and confidence. The first term of service in congress to any man can be but little more than an introduction. He was now prepared for active duty. Fillmore was now a man of wide repute, and his popularity filled the state, and in the year 1847 he was elected comptroller of the state.

had given him very considerable fame. The whigs were casting about to find suitable candidates for president and vice president at the approaching election. Far away, on the waters of the Rio Grande, there was a rough old soldier, who had fought successful battles with the Mexicans, which had caused his name to be proclaimed in trumpet-tones all over the land. But- it was necessary to associate with him, on the same ticket, some man of reputation as a statesman. Under the influence of these considerations, the names of Zachary Taylor and Millard Fillmore became the rallying cry of the whigs, as their candidates for president and vice president. The whig ticket was signally triumphant. On the 4th of March, 1849, Gen. Taylor was inaugurated president, and Millard Fillmore vice president, of the United States.

On the 9th of July, 1850, Pres. Taylor, but one year and four months after his inauguration, was suddenly taken sick and died. By the constitution, Vice Pres. Fillmore thus became president. He appointed a very able cabinet, of which the illustrious Daniel Webster was secretary of state.

Fillmore had very serious difficulties to contend with, since the opposition had a majorty in both house. He did everything in his power to conciliate the south; but the proslavery party in the south felt the inadequacy of all measures of transient conciliation. The population of the free states was so rapidly increasing over that of the slave states that it was inevitable that the power of the government should soon pass into the hands of the free states. The famous compromise measures were adopted under Fillmore's administration, and the Japan expedition was sent out. On the 4th of March, 1853, Fillmore, having served one term, retired.

was beaten by Mr. Buchanan. After that Fillmore lived in retirement. During the terrible conflict of civil war he was mostly silent. It was generally supposed that his sympathies were rather with those who were endeavoring to overthrow our institutions. He lived to a ripe old age, and died in Buffalo, N. Y., March 8, 1874.

BRANKLIN PIERCE, the fourteenth president of the United States, was born in Hillsborough, N. H. .November 23, 1804. Franklin was a very bright and handsome boy, generous, warm-hearted and brave. He won alike the love of old and young. The boys on the play groun4 loved him. His teachers loved him. The neighbors looked upon him with pride and affection. He was by instinct a gentleman; always speaking kind words, doing kind deeds, with a peculiar unstudied tact which taught him what was agreeable. Without developing any precocity of genius, or any unnatural devotion to books, he was a good scholar; in body, in mind, in affections, a finely developed boy.

When sixteen .years of age, in the year 1820, he entered Bowdoin college at Brunswick, Maine. He was one of the most popular young men in the college. The purity of his moral character, the unvarying courtesy of his demeanor, his rank as a scholar, and genial nature, rendered him a universal favorite. There was something very peculiarly winning in his address, and it was evidently not in the slightest degree studied; it was the simple outgushing of his own magnanimous and loving nature.

Upon graduating, in the year 1824, Franklin Pierce commenced the study of law in the office of Judge Woodbury, one of the most distinguished lawyers of the state, and a man of great private worth. The eminent social qualities of the young lawyer, his father's promince as a public man, and the brilliant political career into which Judge Woodbury was entering, all tended to entice Mr. Pierce into the fascinating, yet perilous, path of political life. With all the ardor of his nature he espoused the cause of Gen. Jackson for the presidency. He commenced the practice of law in Hillsborough, and was soon elected to represent the town in the state legislature. Here he served for four years. The last two years he was chosen speaker of the house by a very large vote.

In 1833, at the age of twenty-nine, he was elected a member of congress. Without taking an active part in debates, he was faithful and laborious in duty, and ever rising in the estimation of those with whom he was associated. In 1837, being then but thirty-three years of age, he was elected to the senate of the United States, taking his seat just as Mr. Van Buren commenced his administration. He was the youngest member in the senate. In the year 1834 he married Miss Jane Means Appleton, a lady of rare beauty and accomplishments, and one admirably fitted to adorn every station with which her husband was honored. Of the three sons who were born to them, all now sleep with their parents in the grave.

In the year 1838, Mr. Pierce, with growing fame and increasing business as a lawyer, took up his residence in Concord, the capital of New Hampshire. President Polk, upon his accession to office, appointed Mr. Pierce attorney-general of the United States; but the offer was declined in consequence of numerous professional engagements at home and the precarious state of Mrs. Pierce's health. He also about the same time declined the nomination for governor by the democratic party. The war with Mexico called Mr. Pierce to the army. Receiving the appointment of briga- dier-general, he embarked with a portion of his troops at Newport, R. I., on the 27th of May, 1847. He took an important part in this war, proving himself a brave and true soldier.

When Gen. Pierce reached his home in his native state he was received enthusiastically by the advocates of the Mexican war, and coldly by its opponents. He resumed the practice of his profession, very frequently taking an active part in political questions, giving his cordial support to the pro-slavery wing of the democratic party. The compromise measures met cordially with his approval; and he strenuously advocated the enforcement of the infamous fugitive-slave law, which so shocked thef religious sensibilities of the north. He thus became distinguished as a "northern man with southern principles." The strong partisans of slavery in the south consequently regarded him as a man whom they could safely trust in office to carry out their plans.

On the 1 2th of June, 1852, the democratic convention met in Baltimore to nominate a candidate for the presidency. For four days they continued in session, and in thirty-five ballotings no one had obtained a two-thirds vote. Not a vote thus far had been thrown for Gen. Pierce. Then the Virginia delegation brought forward his name. There were fourteen more ballotings, during which Gen. Pierce constantly gained strength, until, at the forty-ninth ballot, he received 282 votes, and all other candidates eleven. Gen. Winfield Scott was the whig candidate. Gen. Pierce was chosen with great unanimity. Only four states - Vermont, Massachusetts, Kentucky and Tennessee - cast their electoral votes against him. Gen. Franklin Pierce was therefore inaugurated president of the United States on the 4th of March, 1853.

controversy between slavery and freedom was then approaching its culminating point. It became evident that there was an ' 'irrepressible conflict" between them, and that the nation could not long exist "half slave and half free." President Pierce, during the whole of his administration, did everything he could to conciliate the south; but it was all in vain. The conflict every year grew more and more violent, and threats of the dissolution of the Union were borne to the north on every southern breeze.

On the 4th of March, 1857, President Pierce retired to his home in Concord. Of three children, two had died, and his only surviving child had been killed before his eyes by a railroad accident; and his wife, one of the most estimable and accomplished of ladies, was rapidly sinking in consumption. The hour of dreadful gloom soon came, and he was left alone in the world without wife or child.

Such was the condition of affairs when Pres. Pierce approached the close of his four years' term of office. The north had become thoroughly alienated from him. The antislavery sentiment, goaded by great outrages, had been rapidly increasing; all the intellectual ability and social worth of Pres. Pierce were forgotten in deep reprehension of his administrative acts. The slaveholders of the south, also, unmindful of the fidelity with which he had advocated those measures of government which they approved, and perhaps, also, feeling that he had rendered himself so unpopular as no longer to be able acceptably to serve them, ungratefully dropped him, and nominated James Buchanan to succeed him.

When the terrible rebellion broke forth, which divided our country into two parties, Mr. Pierce remained steadfast in the principles which he had always cherished and gave his sympathies to that pro-slavery party with which he had ever been allied. He declined to do anything, either by voice or pen, to strengthen the hand of the national government. He continued to reside in Concord I until the time of his death, which occurred in October, 1869. He was one of the most genial and social of men, an honored communicant of the Episcopal church, and one of the kindest of neighbors. Generous to a fault, he contributed liberally for the alleviation of suffering and want, and many of his townspeople were often gladdened by his material bounty.

AMES BUCHANAN, the fifteenth president of the United States, was born in Franklin county, Pa., on the 23d of April, 1791. His father was a native of the north of Ireland; a poor man, who had emigrated in 1783, with little property save his own strong arms. Five years afterward he married Elizabeth Spear, the daughter of a respectable farmer, and, with his young bride, plunged into the wilderness, staked his claim, reared his log hut, opened a clearing with his ax, and settled down to perform his obscure part in the drama of life. In this secluded home, where James was born, he remained for eight years, enjoying but few social or intellectual advantages. When James was eight years of age his father removed to the village of Mercersburg, where his son was placed at school, and commenced a course of study in English, Latin and Greek. His progress was rapid, and at the age of fourteen he entered Dickenson college at Carlisle. Here he developed remarkable talent, and took his stand among the first scholars of the institution. His application to study was intense, and yet his native powers enabled him to master the most abstruse subjects with facility. In the year 1809, he graduated with the highest honors of his class. He was then eighteen years of age; tall and graceful, vigorous in health, fond of athletic sport, an unerring shot, and enlivened with an exuberant flow of animal spirits. He immediately commenced the study of law in the city of Lancaster, and was admitted to the bar in 1812, when he was but twenty-one years of age. Very rapidly he rose in his profession, and at once took undisputed stand with the ablest lawyers of the state. When but twenty-six years of age, unaided by counsel, he successfully defended before the state senate one of the judges of the state, who was tried upon articles of impeachment. At the age of thirty it was generally admitted that he stood at the head of the bar.

In 1820 he reluctantly consented to run as a candidate for congress. He was elected, and for ten years he remained a member of the lower house. During the vacations of congress, he occasionally tried some important case. In 1831 he retire: altogether from the toils of his profession, having acquired an ample fortune.

Gen. Jackson, upon his elevation to the presidency, appointed Mr. Buchanan minister to Russia. The duties of his mission he performed with ability which gave satisfaction to all parties. Upon his return, in 1833, he was elected to a seat in the United States senate. He there met, as his associates, Webster, Clay, Wright and Calhoun. He advocated the measures proposed by Pres. Jackson, of making reprisals against France, to enforce the payment of our claims against that country; and defended the course of the president in his unprecedented and wholesale removal from office of those who were not supporters of his administration. Upon this question he was brought into direct collision with Henry Clay. He also, with voice and vote, advocated expunging from the journal of the senate the vote of censure against Gen. Jackson for removing the deposits. Earnestly he opposed the abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia, and urged the prohibition of the circulation of anti-slavery documents by the United States mail.

Upon Mr. Polk's accession to the presidency, Mr. Buchanan became secretary of state, and as such took his share of the responsibility in the conduct of the Mexican war. Mr. Polk assumed that crossing the Nueces by the American troops into the disputed territory was not wrong, but for the Mexicans to cross the Rio Grande into that territory was a declaration of war. Mr. Buchanan identified himself thoroughly with the party devoted to the perpetuation and extension of slavery, and brought all the energies of his mind to bear against the Wilmot Proviso. He gave his approval of the compromise measures of 1850, which included the fugitive slave law. Mr. Pierce, upon his election to the presidency, honored Mr. Buchanan with the mission to England.