- W f , r, I 01, ah ~ A~ 0)~~~~I CaAFY I P" JC7,7 I^^ ^-^C FzRST PRESIDS1NT. t _., _- -.. X tjGE@X$E WA8HI..TN..... ~ &l'2t1tt~^ ^. '^^ ^'* '^ 1- ----- - -Nl 7 i~spr, rK " HE Father of our Country was Ml, I? born in Westmorland Co., Va., Feb. 22, I732. His parents were Augustine and Mary (Ball) Washington. The family A to which he belonged has not \ I been satisfactorily traced in England. His great-grandI-~ father, John Washington, eml igrated to Virginia about I657, and became a prosperous planter. He had two sons, r lt Lawrence and John. The } former married Mildred Warner ' ' and had three children, John, il}, Augustine and Mildred. Augus1 tine, the father of George, first m @ married Jane Butler, who bore him four children, two of whom, Kt \i Lawrence and Augustine, reached maturity. Of six children by his! second marriage, George was the eldest, the others being Betty, Samuel, John Augustine, Charles and Mildred. Augustine Washington, the father of George, died in I743, leaving a large landed property. To his eldest son, Lawrence, he bequeathed an estate on the Patomac, afterwards known as Mount Vernon, and to George he left the parental residence. George received only such education as the neighborhood schools afforded, save for a short time after he left school, when he received private instruction in mathemat;cs. His spelling was rather defective. Remarkable stories are told of his great physica: strength and development at an early age. He was an acknowledged leader among his companions, and was early noted for that nobleness of character, fairness and veracity which characterized his whole life. When George was 14 years old he had a desire to go to sea, and a midshipman's warrant was secured for him, but through the opposition of his mother the idea was abandoned. Two years later he was appointed surveyor to the immense estate of Lord Fairfax. In this business he spent three years in a rough frontier life, gaining experience which afterwards proved very essential to him. In 175T, though only I9 years of age, he was appointed adjutant with the rank of major in the Virginia militia, then being trained for active service against the French and Indians. Soon after this he sailed to the West Indies with his brother Lawrence, who went there to restore his health. They soon returned, and in the summer of 1752 Lawrence died, leaving a large fortune to an infant daughter who did not long survive him. On her demise the* estate of Mount Vernon was given to George. Upon the arrival of Robert Dinwiddie, as Lieutenant-Governor of Virginia, in 1752, the militia was reorganized, and the province divided into four military districts, of which the northern was assigned to Washington as adjutant general. Shortly after this a very perilous mission was assigned him and accepted, which others had refused. This was to proceed to the French post near Lake Erie in Northwestern Pennsylvania. The distance to be traversed was between 500 and 600 miles. Winter was at hand, and the journey was to be made without military escort, through a territory occupied by Indians. The GEORGE WASHINGT 7ON. trip was a perilous one, and several times he came near losing his life, yet he returned in safety and furnished a full and useful report of his expedition. A regiment of 300 men was raised in Virginia and put in command of Col. Joshua Fry, and Major Washington was commissioned lieutenant-colonel. Active war was then begun against the French and Indians, in which Washington took a most important part. In the memorable event of July 9, 1755, known as Braddock's defeat, Washington was almost the only officer of distinction who escaped from the calamities of the day with life and honor. The other aids of Braddock were disabled early in the action, and Washington alone was left in that capacity on the field. In a letter to his brother he says: "I had four bullets through my coat, and two horses shot under me, yet I escaped unhurt, though death was leveling my companions on every side." An Indian sharpshooter said he was not born to be killed by a bullet, for he had taken direct aim at him seventeen times, and failed to hit him. After having been five years in the military service, and vainly sought promotion in the royal army, he took advantage of the fall of Fort Duquesne and the expulsion of the French from the valley of the Ohio, to resign his commission. Soon after he entered the Legislature, where, although not a leader, he took an active and important part. January 17, I759, he married Mrs. Martha (Dandridge) Custis, the wealthy widow of John Parke Custis. When the British Parliament had closed the port if Boston, the cry went up throughout the provinces tliat "The cause of Boston is the cause of us all." It was then, at the suggestion of Virginia, that a Congress of all the colonies was called to meet at Philadelphia,Sept. 5, 1774, to secure their common liberties, peaceably if possible. To this Congress Col. Washington was sent as a delegate. On May io, I775, the Congress re-assembled, when the hostile intentions of England were plainly apparent. The battles of Concord and Lexington had been fought. Among the first acts of this Congress was the election of a commander-in-chief of the colonial forces. This high and responsible office was conferred upon Washington, who was still a member of the Congress. He accepted it on June I9, but upon the express condition that he receive no salary. He would keep an exact account of expenses and expect Congress lo pay them and nothing more. It is not the object of this sketch to trace the military acts of Washington, to whom the fortunes and liberties of the people of this country were so long confided. The war was conducted by him under every possible disadvantage, and while his forces often met with reverses, yet he overcame every obstacle, and after seven years of heroic devotion and matchless skill he gained liberty for the greatest nation of earth. On Dec. 23, 1783, Washington, in a parting address of surpassing beauty, resigned his commission as commander-in-chief of the army to to the Continental Congress sitting at Annapolis. He retired immediately to Mount Vernon and resumed his occupation as a farmer and planter, shunning all connection with public life. In February,I7 89, Washington was unanimously elected President. In his presidential career he was subject to the peculiar trials incidental to a new government; trials from lack of confidence on the part of other governments; trials from want of harmony between the different sections of our own country; trials from the impoverished condition of the country, owing to the war and want of credit; trials from the beginnings of party strife. He was no partisan. His clear judgment could discern the golden mean; and while perhaps this alone kept our government from sinking at the very outset, it left him exposed to attacks from both sides, which were often bitter and very annoying. At the expiration of his first term he was unanimously re-elected. At the end of this term many were anxious that he be re-elected, but he absolutely refused a third nomination. On the fourth of March, 1797, at the expiraton of his second term as President, he returned to his home, hoping to pass there his few remaining years free from the annoyances of public life. Later in the year, however, his repose seemed likely to be interrupted by war with France. At the prospect of such a war he was again urged to take command of the armies. He chose his subordinate officers and left to them the charge of matters in the field, which he superintended from his home. In accepting the command he made the reservation that he was not to be in the field until it was necessary. In the midst of these preparations his life was suddenly cut off. December 1 2, he took a severe cold from a ride in the rain, which, settling in his throat, produced inflammation, and terminated fatally on the night of the fourteenth. On the eighteenth his body was borne with military honors to its final resting place, and interred in the family vault at Mount Vernon. Of the character of Washington it is impossible to speak but in terms of the highest respect and admiration. The more we see of the operations of our government, and the more deeply we feel the difficulty of uniting all opinions in a common interest, the more highly we must estimate the force of his talent and character, which have been able to challenge the reverence of all parties, and principles, and nations, and to win a fame as extended as the limits of the globe, and which we cannot but believe will be as lasting as the existence of man. The person of Washington was unusally tan, erect and well proportioned. His muscular strength was great. His features were of a beautiful symmetry. He commanded respect without any appearance of haughtiness, and ever serious without bGiPg dull. / SECOND PRESIDENT. G:ft <-< C,,: ~c) s - e~ J~CM <-OX0* O ~~NsidaS "$" a -!;? O IOHN ADAMS, the second.N^ I i President and the first Vice'":, IfiePresident of the United States, 4[]/y ~was born in Braintree (now " 4 Quincy),Mass., and about ten ( Yd tomiles from Boston, Oct. I9, ff/E., I735- His great-grandfather, Henry It Adams, emigrated from England [I~) /1 about 1640, with a family of eight * X sons, and settled at Braintree. The ':7 ~parents of John were John and Susannah (Boylston) Adams. His - father was a farmer of limited ' means, to which he added the business of shoemaking. He gave his eldest son, John, a classical education at Harvard College. John graduated in I755, and at once took charge of the school in Worcester, Mass. This he found but a 'school of affliction," from which he endeavored to gain relief by devoting himself, in addition, to the study of law. For this purpose he placed himself under the tuition of the only lawyer in the town. He had thought seriously of the clerical profession but seems to have been turned from this by what he termed " the frightful engines of ecclesiastical coun2ils, of diabolical malice, and Calvanistic good nature," of the operations of which he had been a witness in his native town. He was well fitted for the legal profession, possessing a clear, sonorous voice, being ready and fluent of speech, and having quick perceptive powers. He gradually gained practice, and in 1764 married Abigail Smith, a daughter of a minister, and a lady of superior intelligence. Shortly after his marriage, (r765), the attempt of Parliamentary taxation turned him from law to politics. He took initial steps toward holdinr a town meeting, and the resolu tions he offered on the subject became very popular throughout the Province, and were adopted word for word by over forty different towns. He moved to Boston in 1768, and became one of the most courageous and prominent advocatesof the popular cause, and was chosen a member of the General Court (the Leglislature) in I770. Mr. Adams was chosen one of the first delegates from Massachusetts to the first Continental Congress, which met in 1774. Here he distinguished himselt by his capacity for business and for debate, and advocated the movement for independence against the majority of the members. In May, 1776, he moved and carried a resolution in Congress that the Colonies should assume the duties of self-government. He was a prominent member of the committee of five appointed June i, to prepare a declaration of independence. This'article was drawn by Jefferson, but on Adams devolved the task of battling it through Congress in a three days debate. On the day after the Declaration of Independence was passed, while his soul was yet warm with the glow of excited feeling, he wrote a letter to his wife which, as we read it now, seems to have been dictated by the spirit of prophecy. "Yesterday," he says, "the greatest question was decided that ever was debated in America; and greater, perhaps, never was or wiL be decided among men. A resolution was passed without one dissenting colony, 'that these United States are, and of right ought to be, free and inde. pendent states.' The day is passed. The fourth of July, 1776, will be a memorable epoch in the history of America. I am apt to believe it will be celebrated by succeeding generations, as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance by solemn acts of devotion to Almighty God. It ought to be solemnized with pomp, shows 24 JOHNN*ADAMS. =4 JIN ADAMS. games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations from one end of the continent to the other, from this time forward for ever. You will think me transported with enthusiasm, but I am not. I am well aware of the toil, and blood and treasure, that it will cost to maintain this declaration, and support and defend these States; yet, through all the gloom, I can see the rays of light and glory. I can see that the end is worth more than all the means; and that posterity will triumph, although you and I may rue, which I hope we shall not." In November, 1777, Mr. Adams was appointed a delegate to France and to co-operate with Bemjamin Franklin and Arthur Lee, who were then in Paris, in the endeavor to obtain assistance in arms and money from the French Government. This was a severe trial to his patriotism, as it separated him from his home, compelled him to cross the ocean in winter, and exposed him to great peril of capture by the British cruisers, who were seeking him. He left France June 17, I779. In September of the same year he was again chosen to go to Paris, and there hold himself in readiness to negotiate a treaty of peace and of commerce with Great Britian, as soon as the British Cabinet might be found willing to listen to such proposels. He sailed for France in November, from there he went to Holland, where he negotiated important loans and formed important commercial treaties. Finally a treaty of peace with England was signed Jan. 21, 1783. The re-action from the excitement, toil and anxiety through which Mr. Adams had passed threw him into a fever. After suffering from a continued fever and becoming feeble and emaciated he was advised to go to England to drink the waters of Bath. V hile in England, still drooping and desponding, he received dispatches from his own government urging the necessity of his going to Amsterdam to negotiate another loan. It was winter, his health was delicate, yet he immediately set out, and through storm, on sea, on horseback and foot,he made the trip. February 24, 1785, Congress appointed Mr. Adams envoy to the Court of St. James. Here he met face to face the King of England, who had so long regarded him as a traitor. As England did not condescend to appoint a minister to the United States, and as Mr. Adams felt that he was accomplishing but little, he sought permission to return to nis own country, where he arrived in June, 1788. When Washington was first chosen President, John Adams, rendered illustiious by his signal services at home and abroad, was chosen Vice President. Again at the second election of Washington as President, Adams was chosen Vice President. In I796, Washington retired from public life, and Mr. Adams was elected President,though not without much opposition. Serving in this office four years,he was succeeded by Mr. Jefferson, his opponent in politics. YVhile Mr. Adams was Vice President the great French Revolution shook the continent of Europe, and it was upon this point which he was at issue with the majority of his countrymen led by Mr. Jefferson. Mr. Adams felt no sympathy with the French people in their struggle, for he had no confidence in their power of self-government, and he utterly abhored the classof atheist philosophers who he claimed caused it. On the other hand Jefferson's sympathies were strongly enlisted in behalf of the French people. Hence originated the alienation between these distinguished men, and two powerful parties were thus soon organized, Adams at the head of the one whose sympathies were with England and Jefferson led the other in sympathy with France. The world has seldom seen a spectacle of more moral beauty and grandeur, than was presented by the old age of Mr. Adams. The violence of party feeling had died away, and he had begun to receive that just appreciation which, to most men, is not accorded till after death. No one could look upon his venerable form, and think of what he had done and suffered, and how he had given up all the prime and strength of his life to the public good, without the deepest emotion of gratitude and respect. It was his peculiar good fortune to witness the complete success of the institution which he had been so active in creating and supporting. In 1824, his cup of happiness was filled to the brim, by seeing his son elevated to the highest station in the gift of the people. The fourth of July, I826, which completed the half century since the signing of the Declaration of Independence, arrived, and there were but three of the signers of that immortal instrument left upon the earth to hail its morning light. And, as it is well known, on that day two of these finished their earthly pilgrimage, a coincidence so remarkable as to seem miraculous. For a few days before Mr. Adams had been rapidly failing, and on the morning of the fourth he found himself too weak to rise from his bed. On being requested to name a toast for the customary celebration of the day, he exclaimed " INDEPENDENCE FOREVER." When the day was ushered in, by the ringing of bells and the firing of cannons, he was asked by one of his attendants if he knew what day it was? He replied, "O yes; it is the glorious fourth of July-God bless it-God bless you all." In the course of the day he said, "It is a great and glorious day." The last words he uttered were, "Jefferson survives." But he had, at one o'clock, resigned his spirit into the hands of his God. The personal appearance and manners of Mr. Adams were not particularly prepossessing. His face, as his portrait manifests,was intellectual ard expressive, but his figure was low and ungraceful, and his manners were frequently abrupt and uncourteous. He had neither the lofty dignity of Washington, noer the engaging elegance and gracefulness which marked the manners and address of Jefferson. I ...., IItFfYRD PRESIrDENlT. 27 ThIRD ~ ~ PRSIET.2 d5K\'2/ " ' -1i\ HOMAS JEFFERSON was;2 I & born April 2, 1743, at Shad'i; I j ( well, Albermarle county, Va. e^? 1 W '!/ His parents were Peter and 1|X/~ jJane (Randolph) Jefferson, "o "~ ~, 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 elder. When 14 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 I760 he entered William rnd Mary College. Williamsburg was then the seat of the Colonial Court, and it was the obode of fashion and splendor. Young Jefferson, who was then 17 years old, lived somewhat expensively, keeping fine horses, and much caressed by gay society, yet he was earnestly devoted to his studies, and irreproachaable in his morals. It is strange, however, under such influences,that he was not ruined. 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. Heoften 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, alike excellence in philosophy and the languages. The most difficult Latin and Greek authors he read with facility. A more finished 5lbolqr has sd4Qtnl gons forth from college halls; and there was not to be found, perhaps, in all Virginia, a more pureminded, upright, gentlemanly young man. 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 accuteness 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 becanme the most distinguished resort in our land. In 1775 he was sent to the Cclonial Congress. where, though a silent member, his abilities as a writer and a reasoner soon become 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, I77 6 WhaLt must have been the feelings of that THOMAS JEFFERSON. I I — man —what the emotions that swelled his breastwho 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, soverign and independent. It is one of the most remarkable papers ever written; and did no other effort of the mind of its author exist, that alone would be sufficient to stamp his name with immortality. In I779 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 I783. Two years later he was appointed Minister Plenipotentiary to France. Returning to the United States in September, I789, he became Secretary of State in Washington's cabinet. This position he resigned Jan. r, 1794. In I797, he was chosen Vice President, and four years later was elected President over Mr. Adams, with Aaron Burr as Vice President. In I804 he was re-elected with wonderful unanimity, and George Clinton, Vice President. The early part of Mr. Jefferson's second adminstration 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. This has been generally supposed was a mere pretext; and although it has not been generally known what his real plans were, there is no doubt that they were of a far more dangerous character. In I809, 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 pubtic, 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, I809, he bid farewell forever to public life, and retired to Monticello. Mr. Jefferson was profuse in his hospitality. Whole families came in their coaches with their horses,fathers and mothers, boys and girls, babies and nurses,-and remained three and even six months. Life at Monticello, for years, resembled that at a fashionable watering-place. The fourth of July, T826, being the fiftieth anniver sary of the Declaration of American Independence: great preparations were made in every part of th Union for its celebration, as the nation's jubilee, ana 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 weeks duration, and had been continually increasing, compelled him to decline the invitation. On the second 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, the day of the month, and on being told it was the third of July, he expressed the earnest wish tha: 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 birthday of a nation,- - the day which his own name and his 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 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. Hand in hand they had stood forth, the champions of freedom; hand in hand, during the dark and desperate struggle of the Revolution, they had cheered and animated their desponding countrymen; for half a century they had labored together for the good of the country; and now hand in hand they depart. In their lives they had been united in the same great cause of liberty, and in their deaths they were not divided. 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 is 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, ;I I il L- I ; I ' —n J , M, -, - l lqo 0 i 7o -! . - I -. 11;, I I 1, , I I I ""Y I I , FO UR TH PRESIDENT. 3 11 Ad AMES MADISON, "Father of the Constitution," and fourth X President of the United States, was born March I6, 1757, and died at his home in Virginia, June 28, 1836. The name of __ James Madison is inseparably conEm nected with most of the important events in that heroic period of our country during which the foundations of this great republic were laid. He was the last of the founders of the Constitution of the United States to be called to his eternal v lreward. 1j The Madison family were among the early emigrants to the New World, landing upon-the shores of the Chesapeake but 15 years after the settle-; ment of Jamestown. The father of James Madison was an opulent planter, residing upon a very fine estate called "Montpelier," Orange Co., Va. The mansion was situated in the midst of scenery highly picturesque and romantic, on the west side of South-west Mountain, at the foot of Blue Ridge. It was but 25 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 r8 he was sent to Princeton College, in New Jersey. Here he applied hirnelf to Study with the most im prudent zeal; allowing himself, for months, but three hours' sleep out of the 24. His health thus became so seriously impaired that he never recovered any vigor of constitution. He graduated in 177, with a feeble body, with a character of utmost purity, and with a mind highly disciplined and richly stored with learning which embellished and gave proficiency to his subse quent career. 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, and the society with which he associated, all combined to inspire him with a strong love of liberty, and to train him for his life-work ot a statesman. Being naturally of a religious turn of mind, and his frail health leading him to think that his life was not to be long, he directed especial attention to theological studies. Endowed with a mind singularly free from passion and prejudice, and with almost unequalled powers of reasoning, he weighed all the arguments for and against revealed religion, until his faith became so established as never to be shaken. In the spring of I776, when 26 years of age, he was elected a member of the Virginia Convention, to frame the constitution of the State. The next year (I777), he was a candidate for the General Assembly. He refused to treat the whisky-lovirg 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 mem'per of the Council; and their appreciation of his 32 JAIMES IMADISON. 32 JMESMADSON 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, I786, 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 this 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, I787, 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 w-as 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 framing this immortal document than the mind and the pen of James Madison. The Constitution, adopted by a vote 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 1789. 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 destioyed our commerce, and our flag was exposed to constant insult. Mr. Madison was a man of peace. Scholarly in his taste, retiriig in his disposition, war had no charms for him. But the meekest spirit can be roused. It makes one's blocd 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 his boat; and places them on the gundeck of his 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 I8th 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, I813, was re-elected by a large majority, and entered upon his second term of office. This is not the place to describe the various adventures of this war on the land and on the water. Our infant navy then laid the foundations of its renown in grappling with the most formidable power which ever swept the seas. The contest commenced in earnest by the appearance of a British fleet, early in February, I8I3, in Chesapeake Bay, declaring nearly the whole coast of the United States under blockade. The Emperor of Russia offered his services as me ditator. America accepted; England refused. A British force of five thousand men landed on the banks of the Patuxet 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. HIe 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. The war closed after two years of fighting, and on Feb. 13, 8 5, the treaty of peace was signed at Ghent. On the 4th of March, 1817, his 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 85 years, he fell asleep in death. Mfrs Madison died July 12, i849, — 20 -4~6 'rFIJFTH PRESIDENT. 35.,/ g i AMES MONROE, the fifth ^ | ' l President of The United States, "( Flii% l I USwas born in Westmoreland Co., } p_ ~Va., April 28, 1758. His early r^, a life was passed at the place of ~(~@ "nativity. His ancestors had for e,_ many years resided in the prov1 f')jA incein which he was born. When, l l,at I7 years of age, in the process a>7X 0of completing his education at h William and Mary College, the Colonial Congress assembled at PhilaI delphia to deliberate upon the unjust and manifold oppressions of Great Britian, declared the separation of the Colonies, and promulgated the Declaration of Independence. Had he been born ten years before it is highly probable that he would have been one of the signers of that celebrated instrument. At this time he left school and enlisted among the patriots. He joined the 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 4dterminjation to live or die with her ~trife for liberty. Firmly yet sadly he shared in the melancholy retreat from Harleam 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 in the staff of Lord Sterling. During the campaigns of I777 and i778, in the actions of Brandy wine, 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 volun teer, during the two years of his legal pursuits. In I782, he was elected from King George county, a member of the Leglislature 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 23 years of age; and having at this early period displayed some of that ability and aptitude for legislation, which were afterwards employed with uniremittirg energy for the public 6ood, 36 JAMES MONROE. -- -- -- ---- I he was in the succeeding year chosen a member of the Congress 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. Still he retained the esteem of his friends who were its warm supporters, and who, notwithstanding his opposition secured its adoption. 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 npw 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. The leading Federalists and Republicans were alike noble men, consecrating all their energies to the good of the nation. Two more honest men or more pure patriots than John Adams the Federalist, and James Monroe the Republican, never breathed. In building up this majestic nation, which is destined to eclipse all Grecian and Assyrian greatness, the combination of their antagonism was needed to create the light equilibrium. And yet each in his day was denounced as almost a demon. Washington was then President. England had espoused the cause of the Bourbons 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 now 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 wanting in magnanimity. Washington, who could appreciate such a character, developed his calm, 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 Frrace with the inst enthusiastic demonstrations. Shortly after his return to this country, Mr. Monroe was elected Governor of Virginia, and held the office for three yeais. 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 these trying times, the duties of the War Department were also put upon him. He was truly the armorbearer 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 adminstration. At the election held the previous autumn Mr Monroe himself 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 doctrine, since known as the " 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 attempting 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.-e could not view any interposition for the purpose of oppressing or controlling American governnents 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 becrnme 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 unlil 1830, when he went to New York to live with his son-in. law, In that city he died,on the 4th of July, I831 rI J,, C4 L SIX TH PRESIDENT. I 39 xl eeI; _O1? QUIR6Y 7DL1QS.,fiS^^ho^c^o^c ^^^o ^ ^^^^^- Itrrc^ a AL."~fi lE, Ii,\I/:T OHN QUINCY ADAMS, the.. I sixth President of the United,.:/l I States, was born in the rural ohome of his honored father, John Adams, in Qaincy, Mass., on the I ith cf July, 1767. His 7 mother, a woman of exalted E._'E worth, watched over his childhood ia during the almost constant ab'1") sence of his father. When but X eight years of age, he stood with ' -his mother on an eminence, listen-./ 0ing to the booming of the great battie on Bunker's Hill, and gazing on upon the smoke and flames billow(3 ing up from the conflagration of Charlestown. When but eleven years old he took a tearful adieu of his mother, to sail with his father for Europe, through a fleet ot 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 to this country, in 1779, ere he was again sent abroad. Again oLhn Quincy accompanied his father. At Paris he applied himself with great diligence, for six months, to study; then accompained his father to Holland, where he entered, first a school in Amsterdam, then the University at Leyden. About a year from this time, in 178I, 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 enobling 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 it Paris, traveling leisurely, and forming acquaintance with the most distinguished men on the Continent' examining arcnitectural 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. To a brilliant young man of eighteen, who had seen much of the world, and who was familiarwith the etiquette of courts, a residence with his father in London, under such circumstances, must have been extremely attractive but with judgment very rare in one of his age, he preferred to return to America to complete his education in an American college. He wished then to study law, that with an honorable profession, he might be able to obtain an independent support. Upon leaving Harvard College, at the age of twenty he studied law for three years. In June,:794, 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 admit. ted to the deliberations of Messrs. Jay and Pinckney assisting them in negotiating a commercial treaty witl Great Britian. After thus spending a fortnight ii 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 Beilin, but requestirg him to remain in London until he should receive his instructions. While waiting he was married to aAmerican lady to whom he had been previously engaged, —Miss Louisa Catherine Johnson, daughter of Mr. Joshua Johnson, American consul in london; a lady endownd with that beauty and those accomplishment which eminently fitted her to move in the elevated sphere for which she wkv Wit4ked. 40 JOHN Q UINCY ADAMS. He reached Berlin with his wife in November, 7 97; where he remained until July, 1799, when, having fulfilled all the purposes of his mission, he solicited his recall. Soon after his return, in I802, 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. There was no man in America more familiar with the arrogance of the British court upon these points, and no one more resolved to present a firm resistance. 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. In all the universities of Europe, a more accomplished scholar could scarcely be found. 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 numerous friends in public and private life in Europe, he sailed in June, I8I9, for the United States. On the i8th 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 Mr. Monroe'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, thirtyseven. 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. The friends of all the disappointed candidates now combined in a venomous and persistent assault upon Mr. Adams. There is nothing more disgraceful in ta! pat ij~tQry of our country than the abuse which I 1. I I I was poured in one uninterrupted stream, upon this high-minded, upright, patriotic man. There never was an administration more pure in principles, more conscientiously devoted to the best interests of the country, than that of John Quincy Adams; and never, perhaps, was there an administration more unscrupulously and outrageously assailed. 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 succeeded 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, I830, he was elected representative to Congress. For seventeen years, until his death, he occupied the post as representative, towering above all his peers, 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. Probably there never was a member more devoted to his duties. 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 indictment by the grand jury, with expulsion from the House, with assassination, but no threats could intimidate him, and his final triumph was complete. It has been said of President Adams, that when his body was bent and his hair silvered by the lapse of fourscore years, yielding to the simple faith of a little child, he was accustomed to repeat every night, before he slept, the prayer which his mother taught him in his infant years. On the 2ISt 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 ard said " This is the endof earth;"then after a moment's pause he added, ". am content." These were the last words of the grand "Old Man Eloquent," f I I C-'iL:t~dn_-t?/ — ---— _ li --- — — ~ --- —-- $SE VENTH PRESIDENT. 43 J, - Italy J, I J(I$Z' NDREW JACKSON, the \/ Aseventh President of the! n - IUnited States, was born in Waxhaw settlement, N. C., s March 15, 1767, a few days after his father's death. His parents were poor emigrants 1 from Ireland, and took up their abode in Waxhaw setT 7 tlement, where they lived in ( deepest poverty. Andrew, or Andy, as he was universally called, grew up a very i 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 Dlow at the head of the helpless young prisoner. Andrew raised his hand, and thus received 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 sabre, which quite disabled him, and which probably soon after caused his death. They suffered much other ill-treatment, and were finally stricken with the small-pox. 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, s:lch 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. He, however, gave more attention to the wild amusements of the times than to his studies. In 1788, he was appointed solicitor for the western district of North Carolina, of which Tennessee was then a part. This involved many long and tedious journeys amid dangers of every kind, but Andrew Jackson never knew fear, and the Indians had no desire to repeat a skirmish with the Sharp Knife. In 1791, Mr. 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 Dickenson, was especially disgraceful. In January, I796, the Territory of Tennessee then containing nearly eighty thousand 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 rode to Philedelphia, where Congress then held its 44 ANDRE W fJA CKSON. sessions,-a distance of about eight hundred miles. Jackson was an earnest advocate of the Democcatic party. Jefferson was his idol. He admired Bonaparte, loved France and hated England. As Mr. 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 adminstration had been " wise, firm and patriotic." Mr. Jackson was elected to the United States Senate in 7 97, but soon resigned and returned home. Soon after he was chosen Judge of the Supreme Court of his State, which position he held fjr six years. When the war of I812 with Great Britian 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 twenty-five hundred 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 fifteen hundred troops to aid Wilkinson. The expedition reached Natchez; and after a delay of several weeks there, without accomplishing anything, the men were ordered back to their homes. But the energy Gen. Jackson had displayed, and his entire devotion to the comrfort 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." 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 iingering 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 rendezvous at Fayettesville, Alabama. 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 two thousand men, Gen. Jackson traversed the pathless wilderness in a march of eleven days. He reached their fort, called Tohopeka or Horse-shoe, on the 27th of March. I814. The bend of the river enclosed nearly one hundred acres of tangled forest and wild ravine. Across the narrow neck the Indians had constructed a formidable breastwork of logs and brush. Here nine hundred warriors, with an ample suply 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 everyone of the nine hundred warrios were killed A few probably, in the night, swam the river and escaped. This ended the war. The power of the Creeks was broken forever. This bold plunge into the wilderness, with its terriffic slaughter, so appalled the savages, that the haggard remnants of the bands camie to the camp, begging for peace. 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 campaign to so successful an issue Immediately he was appointed major-general. Late in August, with an army of two thousand men, on a rushing march, Gen. Jackson came 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, where he had taken his little army, he moved his troops to New Orleans, And the battle of New Orleans which soon ensued, was in reality a very arduous campaign. This won for Gen. Jackson an imperishable name. Here his troops, which numbered about four thousand men, won a signal victory over the British army of about nine thousand. His loss was but thirteen, while the loss of the British was two thousand six hundred. The name of Gen. Jackson soon began to be mentioned in connection with the Presidency, but, in T824, 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 I829, just before he assumed the reins of the government, he met with the most terrible affliction of his life in the death of his wife, whom he had loved with a devotion which has perhaps never been surpassed. From the shock of her death he never recovered. His administration was one of the most memorable in the annals of our country; applauded by one party, condemned by the other. No man had more bitter enemies or warmer friends. At the expiration of his two terms of office he retired to the Hermitage, where he died June 8, I845. The last years of Mr. Jackson's life were that of a devoted Christian man. I .." -.11 I - 11- ,; 77711,,- --- I - 77777 -77777-7- , - I I I; I n /"- -dMI EIGHTH PRESIDENT. 47 _" rr2?~lrrr2 ~ir T~aE1) ARTIN VAN BUREN, the iheighth President of the ' ^l ^\l\ AUnited States, was born at R Kinderhook, N. Y., Dec. 5, i782. He died at the same place, July 24, 1862. His T Ifbody 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 one face. The lot is unfenced, unbordered or unbounded by shrub or flower. There is but little in the life of Martin Van Buren of romantic interest. He fought no battles, engaged in no wild adventures. Though his life was stormy in political and intellectual conflicts, and he gained many signal victories, his days passed uneventful in those incidents which give zest to biography. 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. Ae was decidedly a precocious boy, developing unusual activity, vigor and strength of mind. 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 d 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, Mr. 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 party was then at its height. Mr. Van Buren was from the beginning a politician. He had, perhaps, imbibed that spirit while listening to the many discussions which had been carried on in his father's hotel. He 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 ruputation 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 th. courts with some of the ablest men who have adorned the bar of his State. Just before leaving Kinderhook for Hudson, MI. Van Buren 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. For twenty-five years, Mr. Van Buren was an earnest, successful, assiduous lawyer. The record of those years is barren in items of public interest. In T8 2, when thirty years of age, he was chosen to the State Senate, and gave his strenuous support to Mr. Madison's adminstration. In I815, he was appointed Attorney-General, and the next year moved to Albany, the capital of the State. While he was acknowledged as one of the most pkominent leaders of the Democratic party, he had — ~IILeOl —LIII — — , I _ r I 1 4 1 ~ ' 1111 I1 1111 11 I II P MAR TIN VAN B VRN. I 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. No one could doubt the singleness of his endeavors to promote the interests of all classes in the community. 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 re-elected to the Senate. He had been from the beginning a determined opposer of 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 Governorof 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 of politicians. It was supposed 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 I831, 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 re-election 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 roused 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 Execu tive. On the 20th of May, 1836, Mr. 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. "Leaving New York out of the canvass," says Mr. Parton, "the election of Mr. Van Buren to the Presidency was as much the act of Gen. Jackson as though the Constitution had conferred upon him the power to appoint a successor." 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 by the "Free Soil" Democrats, in I848, Mr. Van Buren lived quietly upon his estate until his death. He had ever been a prudent man, of frugal habits. and living within his income, had now fortunately a competence for his declining years. His unblemished character, his commanding abilities, his unquestioned patriotism, and the distinguished positions which he had occupied in the government of our country, secured to him not only the homage of his party, but the respect ot the whole community. It was on the 4th of March, I841, 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, I862, 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 lifer #4 i jjjj , - - ,.- -, -1.1041- - I I I I I - — l- I 1-1-1 I 1 N lNTH P.RESISDFI)~:1VjP 5 ATINII — - P S N I3 I K Ia - - 1 -- ~ W~f LL HE _X ILLIAM HENRY HARRISON, the ninth President of the United States, was born ^at Berkeley, Va., Feb. 9, I773. His father, Benjamin Harri-, " son, was in comparatively op\n ulent circumstances, and was one of the most distinguished men of his day. He was an intimate friend of George Washington, x as early elected a member of the Continental l i Congress, and was conspicuous among the patriots of Virginia in resisting the encroachments of the British crown. In the celebrated I ~rj\ Congress of I775, Benjamin Harm o rison and John Hancock were both candidates for the office of C IIsJ speaker. Mr Harrison was subsequently chosen Governor of Virginia, and (@ was twice re-elected. His son, William Henry, of course enjoyed in childhood all the advantages which wealth and intellectual and cultivated society could give. Having received a thorough common-school education, he 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 Morris, both of whom were, with his father, signers of the Declaration of Independence. Upon the outbreak of the Indian troubles, and notwithstanding the remnonstrances of his friends, he ai)andoned his medical studies and entered the army, slaving obtained a commission of Ensign from Presi dent Washington. He was then but 19 years old. From that time he passed gradually upward in rank until he became aid to General Wayne, after whose death he resigned his commission. He was then appointed Secretary of the North-western 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 I80o the North-western 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 north-west of the Ohio." The western portion, which included what is now called Indiana, Illinois and Wisconsin, was called the "Indiana Territory." Wil.. liam Henry Harrison, then 27 years of age, was ap. pointed 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 afterwards by President Madison. Whenhe began his adminstration 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 was on the Ohio, nearly opposite Louisville; one at Vincennes, on the Wabash, and the third a French settlement. The vast wilderness over which Gov. Harrisoil reigned was filled with many tribes of Indians. Abou' w11e - n E 7 5 E I 1-11 _777= - 52 WILLIA~ M IIEAVRY HARRISON. the year 1806, two extraordinary mern, twin brothers, of the Shawnese 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, far-reaching 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 encroachment of the whites upon the huntinggrounds 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. But the Prophet was not merely an orator: he was, i.i the superstitious minds of the Indians, invested with the superhmnlan dignity of a medicine-man or a magician. With an enthusiasm unsurpassed by Peter the Hermit rousing Europe to the crusades, he went from tribe to tribe, assuming that he was specially sent by the Great Spirit. 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 Indlans 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 accourtrements 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 accompained by a shower of bullets. The camp-fires were instantly extinguished, as the light aided the Indians in their aim. With hideius yells, the Indian bands rushed on, not doubting a speedy and an 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 every thing before them, and completely routing 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, The war-whoop was resounding everywhere in the forest. The horizon was illuminated with the conflagration of the cabins of the settlers. Gen Hull had made the ignominious surrender of his forces at Detroit. Under these despairing circumstances, Gov. Harrison was appointed by President Madison commnander-inchief of the North-western army, with orders to retake Detroit, and to protect the frontiers. It would be difficult to place a man in a situation demanding more energy, sagacity and courage; but General Harrison was found equal to the position, and nobly and triumphantly did he meet all the re sponsibilities. He 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 i8i6, 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 I819, Harrison was elected to the Senate of Ohio; and in I824, 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 Mr. 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. Never were the prospects of an administration more flattering, or the hopes of the country more sanguine. In the midst of these bright and joyous prospects, Gen. Harrison was seized by a pleurisv-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. I I 77rE6n-TNT PRE'SIDENV'T 55 TSATTZ?RSISN' 55 - i/ A OHN TYLER, the tenth Presidentof the United States. 1t He was born in Charles-city _ _ tCo., Va., March 29, I790. He was the favored child of aff ' fluence and high social po_,,^ ' sition. At the early age of twelve, John entered William K'0: and Mary College and graduated with much honor when but seventeen years old. After graduating, he devoted himself with great assiduity to the / fi H study of law, partly with his k^. 1 father and partly with Edmund l]1~ f Randolph, one of the most distin|; guished lawyers of Virginia. a [ ' At nineteen years of age, ne commenced the practice of law. 1 a 1 His success was rapid and astonishing. It is said that three months had not elapsed ere there was scarcely a case on the dockI et 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 or 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 Govern ment, 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 Co., 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. With a reputation thus canstantly increasing, he was chosen by a very large majority of votes, Governor of his native State. His administration was signally a successful one. His popularity secured his re-election. John Randolph, a brilliant, erratic, half-crazed man, then represented Virginia in the Senate of the United States. A portion of the Democratic party was displeased with Mr. Randolph's waywardcourse, and brought forward John Tyler as his opponent, considering him the only man in Virginia of sufficient popularity to succeed against the renowned orator of Roanoke. Mr. 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 cplit in the Democratic 56.'OHN~ TYIE;.RiT 36..:: ]OR'N TYLER.. —.~e= — - "~....-.~~_ 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. His career had been very brilliant. In consequence of his devotion to public business, his private affairs had fallen into some disorder; and it was not without satisfaction that he resumed the practice of law, and devoted himself to the culture of his plantation. 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 7839. The maioritv 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. It was well known that he was not in sympathy with the Whig party in the Noith: but the Vice President has but very little power in the Government, his main and almost only duty being to preside over the meetings of the Senate. Thus it happened that a Whig President, and, in reality, a Democratic Vice President were chosen. In I841, Mr. Tyler was inaugurated Vice President of the United States. In one short month from that time, President Harrison died, and Mr. Tyler thus cund 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 occured. Mr. Tyler was at home in Williamsburg when he received the unexpected tidings of the death of President Harrison. He hastened to Washington, and on the 6th of April was inaugurated to the high and responsible office. He was placed in a position of exceeding delicacy and difficulty. All his long life he had been opposed to the main principles of the party which had brought him into power. He had ever been a consistent, hone:t man, with an unblemished record. Gen. Harrison had selected a Whig cabinet. Should he retain them, and thus surround himself with counsellors 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. He invited the cabinet which President Harrison had selected to retain their seats. He reccommended a day of fasting and prayer, that God would guide and bless us. 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 %uvgested, 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 alliance between the Whigs and President 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. Tyler's unfortunate administration passed sadly away. No one was satisfied. The land was filled with murmurs and vituperation. Whigs and Democrats alike assailed him. More and more, however, he brought himself into sympathy with his old friends, the Democrats, until atthe close of his term, he gave his whole influence to the support of Mr. Polk, the Democratie candidate for his successor. On the 4th of March, I845, he retired from the harassments of office, to the regret of neither party, and probably to his own unspeakable relief. His first wife, Miss Letitia Christian, died in Washington, in I842; and in June, 1844, President 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 Co., 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 Mr. John C. Calhoun had inaugurated, President 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. It 0-2 .a.LE VENTH F RESIDEN'T. 59 EE N? Til AMES K. POLK, the eleventh ~(v d I!..President of the United States,. Em! 4was born in Mecklenburg Co., _~ /N. C.,Nov. 2, 1795. His parents were Samuel and Jane (Knox) Polk, the former a son E4 ) of Col. Thomas Polk, who located 1' at the above place, as one of the g 1 first pioneers, in 1735. In the year I3o6, with his wife and children, and soon after fol*- lowed by most of the members of \ the Polk famly, Samuel Polk emigrated some two or three hundred: miles farther west, to the rich valley of the Duck River. Here in the midst of the wilderness, in a region which was subsequently called Maury Co., they reared their log huts, i and established their homes. In the I hard toil of a new farm in the wil( derness, 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. His mother was a superior woman, of strong common sense and earnest piety. 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 f.thbr, fearing that be riglt not be able to endure a sedentary life, got a situation for him behind the counter, hoping to fit him for commercial pursuits. This was to James a bitter disappointment. He had no taste for these duties, and his daily tasks were irksome in the extreme. 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. With ardor which could scarcely be surpassed, he pressed forward in his studies, and in less than two and a half years, in the autumn of 1815, entered the sophomore class in the University of North Carolina, at Chapel Hill. Here he was one of the most exemplary of scholars, punctual in every exercise, never allowing himself to be absent from a recitation or a religious service. He graduated in 8I8, with the highest honors, be. ing deemed the best scholar of his class, both in mathematics and the classics. He was then twentythree 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, 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. They had probably been slightly acquainted before. Mr. Polk's father was a Jeffersonian Republican, and James K. Polk ever adhered to the same political faith. He 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 stumlr je was a an 9f unblemished pnlrals, genial alr4 6o fAMES K. POLK. Go J_-a tourterus in his bearing, and with that sympathetic nature in the joy s and griefs of others which ever gave him troops of friends. In 1823, Mr. Polk was elected to the Legislature of Tennessee. Here he gave his strong influence towards 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 Co., 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 I839, he was continuec in that office. He then voluntarily withdrew, only that he might accept the Gubernatorial chair of 'I nnessee. In Congress he was a laborious member, a frequent and a popular speaker. He was always in his seat, always courteous; and whenever he spoke it was always to the point, and without any ambitious rhetorical display. During five sessions of Congress, Mr. Polk was Speaker of the House, Strong passions were roused, 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. In accordance with Southern usage, Mr. Polk, as a candidate for Governor, canvassed the State. He was elected by a large majority, and on the I4th of October, 1839, took the oath of office at Nashville. In I841, 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 the annexation to be an act hostile to Mexico. In his first 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 or the western banks. The anticipated collision soon took place, and wai 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 " in vasion," was sent forward to Monterey. The feeble Mexicans, in every encounter, were hopelessly and awfully slaughtered. The day of judgement alone can reveal the misery which this war caused. 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, eight hundred thousand 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. There were some Americans who thought it all right: there were others who thought it all wrong. In the prosecution of this war, we expended twenty thousand lives and more than a hundred million of dollars. Of this money fifteen millions 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 carriage 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-that fearful scourge- was then sweeping up the Valley of the Mississippi. This he contracted, and died on the I5th of June, I849, in the fiftv-fourth year of his age, greatly mourned by his countrymen, TWELFTH PRESIDENT. 63 m - 39 J, t~rd i Jll Ill, a~B~F (P I_ g-o~A M-MU V MCMUOMIS -- - m mm ~, I.Mmw — 7 ACHARY TAYLOR, twelfth [fli ~ President of the United States, i?[ J 'was born on the 24th of Nov., I ~, 17 84, in Orange Co., Va. His Z9 father, Colonel Taylor, was - " a Virginian of note, and a disi).Add) tinguished patriot and soldier of A[b ^ the Revolution. When Zachary L (.~? was an infant, his father with his [t / wife and two children, emigrated ) f/ to Kentucky, where he settled in the pathless wilderness, a few t miles from Louisville. In this front) ier home, away from civilization and all its refinements, 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. There is little to be recorded of the uneventful years of his childhood on his father's large but lonely plantation. In i808, his father succeeded in obtaining for him the commission of lieutenant 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, Ped by Tecumseh, Its garrison consisted of a broken company of infantry numbering fifty men, many of whom were sick. Early in the autumn of I812, the Indians, stealthily, and in large numbers, moved upon the fort. Their alpproach 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 infornmed 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 the case of capture, death by the most agonizing and prolonged torture. No pen can describe, no immagination can conceive the scenes which ensued. The savages succeeded in setting fire to one of the block-houses. 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 galiant defence, 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. Here there was but little to be done but to wear away the tedious hours as one best could. There were no books, no society, no i 64 Ar-FA44CRR F TAYLOR.ZI 64 -. R tellectual stimulus. Thus with him the uneventful years rolled on 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 defence 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 i836, he was sent to Florida to compel the Seminole Indians to vacate that region and retire beyond the Mississippi, as their chiefs by treaty, ilac promised they should do. The services rendered he-rc secured for Col. Taylor the high appreciation of the Government; and as a reward, he was elevated to:he rank of brigadier-general by brevet; and soon after, in May, j838, was appointed to the chief command of the United States troops in Florida. After two years of such wearisome employment amidst the everglades of the peninsula, 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 Jessup, in Louisiana, he removed his family to a plantation which he purchased, near Baton Rogue. 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 name of Gen. Taylor was on every one's lips. The Whig party decided to take advantage of this wonderful popularity in bringing forward the unpolished, unlettered, 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. It was not without chagrin that several distinguished statesmen who had been long years in the public service found tLt-ir claims set aside in behalf of ne whose name had never been heard of, save in connection with Palo Alto, Resaca de la Palma, Monterey and Buena Vista. It is said that Daniel Webster, in his haste remarked, "It is a nomination not fit to be made." 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-President 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 pro-slavery 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 little over five days, died on the 9th of July, i850. 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. An honest, unpretending man, he had been steadily growing in the affections of the people; and the Nation bitterly lamented his death. 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 phrase, 'touch with a pair of tongs.' "Any allusion to literature beyond good old Dilworth's spelling-book, on the part of one wearing a sword, was evidence, with the same judge, of utter unfitness for heavy marchings and combats. In short few men have ever had a more comfortabr'e, laboosaving contempt for leernirg of every kind," I:I K, THIRTEENT H PR 'SIDENT. _ - - -. _. 67 'NI -7-2 S, A " I *J, — a. r TO —X -5 e I>IMILLARD FILLMIIRE.-t &' In~,, A,&-, ^ St ^ zo^,^^,^,^.1... ^ g^, _ e S ' 41Y I ~ipc M,L 00 f- -2 g- -7, - a ILLARD FILLMORE, thiri- teenth President ofthe United States, was born at Summer X ~l, Hill, Cayuga Co., N. Y., on the 7th of January, I8oo. His father was a farmer, and owi ing to misfortune, in humble cir2 cumstances. Of his mother, the.1g daughter of Dr. Abiathar Millard, [ ( of Pittsfield, Mass., it has been K said that she possessed an intellect ~ of very high order, united with much - personal loveliness, sweetness ofdisposition, graceful manners and exquisite sensibilities. She died in i 831; 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 common schools, which he occasionally attended were very imperfect institutions; and books were scarce and expensive. There was nothing then in his character to indicate the brilliant career upon which he was about to enter. He was a plain farmer's boy; intelligent, good-looking, kind-hearted. 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 twher was a small villiage, whper some enterprising man had commenced the collection of a village library. This proved an inestimable blessing to young Fillmore. His evenings were spent in reading. Soon every leisure moment was occupied Fith books. His thirst fur 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. The young clothier had now attained the age of nineteen years, and was of fine personal appearance and of gentlemanly demeanor. 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 the law. The young man replied, that he had no means of his own, no friends to hell 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. There is in many minds a strange delusion abou'; a collegiate education. A young man is supposed to be liberally educated if he has graduated at some college. But many a boy loiters through university hal'; And then vnters a law gffice, who is by no 91 n.a B, 4 MILLARD FILLMORE. well prepared to prosecute his legal studies as was Millard Fillmore when he graduated at the clothingmill at the end of four years of manual labor, during which every leisure moment had been devoted to intense mental culture. 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 I826, he married a lady of great moral worth, and one capable of adorning any station she might be called to fill,-Miss Abigail Powers. 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 reelected, and took his seat in I837. His past expe. rience 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. All his energies were brought to bear upon the public good. Every measure received his impress. Mr. Fillmore was now a man of wide repute, and his popularity filled the State, and in the year I847, he,was elected C(omptroller of the Stat~. I Mr. Fillmore had attained the age of forty-seven years. His labors at the bar, in the Legislature, in Congress and as Comptroller, 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 one or two 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 ard Millard Fillmore became the rallying-cry of the lWhigs, as their candidates for President and Vice-Peesident. 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, President Taylor, but about one year and four months after his inauguration, was suddenly taken sick and died. By the Constitution, Vice-President Fillmore thus became President. He appointed a very able cabinet, of which the illustrious Daniel Webster was Secretary of State. Mr. Fillnlore had very serious difficulties to contend with, since the opposition had a majority in both Houses. He did everything in his power to conciliate the South; but the pro-slavery party in the South felt the inadequacyof 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 Mr. Fillmcre's adminstration, and the Japan Expedition was sent out. On the 4th of March, 1853, Mr. Fillmore, having served one term, retired. In I856, Mr. Fillmore was nominated for the Presidency by the " Know Nothing " party, but was beaten by Mr. Buchanan. After that Mr. 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. President Fillmore kept aloof from the conflict, without any cordial words of cheer to the one party or the other. He was thus forgotten by both. He lived to a ripe old age, and died in Buffalo. N. Y., March 8, 1874. 9 I ~ — FOURTEENTII PRESIDENT. 71 * FRANKLIN PIERCERIR' RANKLIN PIERCE, the ifourteenth President of the United States, was born in Hillsborough, N. H., Nov. 23, 1804. His father was a - Revolutionary soldier, who, with his own strong arm, rl f ~hewed out a home in the wilderness. He was a man of inflexible integrity; of strong, though uncultivated mind, and an uncompromising Democrat. The mother of i Franklin Pierce was all that a son could desire,-an intelligent, prudent, affectionate, Christian woman. Franklin was the sixth of eight children. 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 ground 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 I820, he entered Bowdoin College, at Brunswick, Me 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 prominence as a public man, and the brilliant political career into which Judge Woodbury was entering, all tended to entice Mr. Pierce into the faci. nating 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 yeais. 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 associatad. In I837, 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 memberin the Senate. In the year I834, 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 hoQnQid, Of the FWIANKLIN~tl PIERCE. 72 72 FRANKLIN PiERCE. 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 precariuos 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 in the army. Receiving the appointment of brigadier-general, he embarked, with a portion of his troops, at Newport, R. I., on the 27th of May, I847. 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 his 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 the 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 I2th 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 two hundred and eighty-two 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 MarchT r85. His administration proved one of the most stormy our country had ever experienced. The controversy be tween slavery and freedom was then approaching its culminating point. It became evident that there was an "irrepressible conflict " between them, and that this Nation could not long exist " half slave and half free." President Pierce, during the whole of his administration, did every thing he could to conciliate the South; but it was all in vain. The conflict every year grew more violent, and threats of the dissolution of the Union were borne to the North on every South. ern breeze. Such was the condition of affairs when President Pierce approached the close of his four-years' term of office. The North had become thoroughly alienated from him. The anti-slavery sentiment, goaded by great outrages, had been rapidly increasing; all the intellectual ability and social worth of President Pierce were forgotten in deep rel)rehension of his administrative acts. The slaveholders of the South, also, unmindful of the fidelity with. hich 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. 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. When the terrible Rebellion burst forth, which divided our country into two parties, and two only, 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 until the time of his death, which occurred in October, I869. 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 lilerally for the alleviation of suffering and want, and many of his towns people were 9ften gladened by hjis patnrjal bounty. I c14~7zeJ 1ZFTElENrH PRBSSDEY2T 'S 7 is I 4A bm L_ ___5- _____.,,, __ If X -ORN4 -ltMiXiTt l iI i4l X M1^^ ^^ t t t r~t^<^t^^^^^ c X i^ 3 m mm ~ t MStv C ~ ifi —XB~~ li^':t 1 5 AMES BUCHANAN, the fifi teenth President of the United Statcs, was born in a small frontier town, at the foot of the eastern ridge of the Alleghanies, in Franklin Co., Penn., on the 23d of April, I791. The place ( l where the humble cabin of his father stood was called Stony Batter. It was a wild and romantic spot in a gorge of the mountains, with towering summits rising grandly all around. His father was a native of the north of Ireland; a poor man, who had emigrated in I783, with little property save his own strong arms. Five years afterwards 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 axe, and settled down there 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 Dickinson College, at Carlisle. Here he de. veloped remarkable talent, and took his stand among the first scholars in the institution. His application to study was intense, and yet his native powers en abled 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 ol:e 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; and there was no lawyer in the State who had a more lucrative practice. In I820, 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 I831, he retired 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 meas. ures proposed by President Jackson, of nmalrng repri 76 JAMEIS BUCHJANAN. I S sals 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 the supporters ofohis administration. Upon this question he was brought into direct collision with He.lry 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 mails. As to petitions on the subject of slavery, he advocated that they should be respectfully received; and that the reply should be returned, that Congress had no power to legislate upon the subject. '" Congress," said he, "might as well undertake to interfere with slavery under a foreign government as in any of the States where it now exists." 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. No candid man can read with pleasure the account of the course our Government pursued in that movement. 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 cordial approval to the compromise measures of 1o50, which included the fugitive-slave law. Mr. Pierce, upon his election to the Presidency, honored Mr. Buchanan with the mission to England. In the year I856, a national Democratic convention nominated Mr. Buchanan for the Presidency. The political conflict was one of the most severe in which our country has ever engaged. All the friends of slavery were on one side; all the advocates of its restriction and final abolition, on the other. Mr. Fremont, the candidate of the enemies of slavery, received I114 electoral votes. Mr. Buchanan received 174, and was elected. The popular vote stood 1,340,618, for Fremont, 1,224,750 for Buchanan. On March 4th, I857, Mr. Buchanan was inaugurated. Mr. Buchanan was far advanced in life. Only four,rears were wanting to fill up his threescore years and ten. His own friends, those with whom he had been allied in political principles and action for years, were socking the destruction of the Government, that they might rear upon the ruins of our free institutions a nation whose corner-stone should be human slavery. [n this emergency, Mr. Buchanan was hopelessly bewildered He could not, with his long-avowed prin ciples, consistently oppose the State-rights party in their assumptions. As President of the United States, bound by his oath faithfully to administer the laws. he could not, without perjury of the grossest kind, unite with those endeavoring to overthrow the republic. He therefore did nothing. The opponents of Mr. Buchanan's administration nominal ed Abraham Lincoln as their standard bearer in the next Presidential canvass. The pro-slavery party declared, that if he were elected, and the control of the Government were thus taken from their hands, they would secede from the Union, taking with them, as they retired, the National Capitol at Washington, and the lion's share of the territory of the United States. Mr. Buchanan's sympathy with the pro-slavery party was such, that he had been willing to offer them far more than they had ventured to claim. All the South had professed to ask of the North was nonintervention upon the subject of slavery. Mr. Buchanan had been ready to offer them the active cooperation of the Government to defend and extend the institution. As the storm increased in violence, the slaveholders claiming the right to secede, and Mr. Buchanan avowing that Congress had no power to prevent it, one of the most pitiable exhibitions of governmental imbecility was'exhibited the world has ever seen. He declared that Congress had no power to enforce its laws in any State which had withdrawn, or which was attempting to withdraw from the Union. This was not the doctrine of Andrew Jackson, when, with his hand upon his sword-hilt, he exclaimed, "The Union must and shall be preserved!" South Carolina seceded in Decenber, I86o; nearly three months before the inauguration of President Lincoln. Mr. Buchanan looked on in listless despair. The rebel flag was raised in Charleston; Fort Sumpter was besieged; our forts, navy-yards and arsenals were seized; our depots of military stores were plundered; and our custom-houses and post-offices were appropriated by the rebels. The energy of the rebels, and the imbecility of our Executive, were alike marvelous. The Nation looked on in agony, waiting for the slow weeks to glide away, and close the administration, so terrible in its weakness At length the long-looked-for hour of deliverance came, when Abraham Lincoln was to receive the scepter. The administration of President Buchanan was certainly the most calamitous our country has experienced. His best friends cannot recall it with pleasure. And still more deplorable it is for his fame, that in that dreadful conflict which rolled its billows of flame and blood over our whole land, no word came from his lips to indicate his wish that our country's banner should triumph over the flag of the rebellio,; He died at his Wheatland retreat, June I, I863. jI6 1 SIXTEENTH P BtSI/DRiVT. 79 ABRAHAM INCON.(. ~ BRAHAM LINCOLN, the MA -wI sixteenth President of the.~ 3/,(~:'United States, was born in [ ". Hardin Co., Ky., Feb. 12, '..YQ. 1809. About the year 1780, a a ' & man by the name of Abraham Lincoln left Virginia with his family and moved into the then wilds of Kentucky. Onlytwo years 1) A) after this emigration, still a young man, while working one day in a field, was stealthily approached by an Indian and shot dead. His widow was left in extreme poverty with five little children, three boys and two (iy igirls. Thomas, the youngest of the oy boys, was four years of age at his father's death. This Thomas was the father of Abraham Lincoln, the President of the United States whose name must henceforth forever be enrolled with the most prominent in the annals of our world. Of course no record has been kept of the life oof one so lowly as Thomas Lincoln. He was among the poorest of the poor. His home was a wretched log-cabin; his food the coarsest and the meanest. Education he had none; he could never either read or write. As soon as he was able to do anything for himself, he was compelled to leave the cabin of his starving mother, and push out into the world, a friendless, wandering boy, seeking work. He hired himself out, and thus spent the whole of his youth as a 'L.borer in the fields of others. When twenty-eight years of age he built a logcabin of his own, and married Nancy Hanks, the daughter of another family of poor Kentucky emigrants, who had also come from Virginia. Their second child was Abraham Lincoln, the subject of this sketch. The mother of Abraham was a noble woman, gentle, loving, pensive, created to adorn a palace, doomed to toil and pine, and die in a hovel. " All that I am, or hope to be," exclaims the grateful son "I owe to my angel-mother. " When he was eight years of age, his father sold his I cabin and small farm, and moved to Indiana.. Where two years later his mother died. Abraham soon became the scribe of the uneducated commiunity around him. He could not have had a better school than this to teach him to put thoughts into words. He also became an eager reader. The books he could obtain were few; but these he read and re-read until they were almost committed to memory. As the years rolled on, the lot of this lowly family was the usual lot of humanity. There were joys and griefs, weddings and funerals. Abraham's sister Sarah, to whom he was tenderly attached, was married when a child of but fourteen years of age, and soon died. The family was gradually scattered. Mr. Thomas Lincoln sold out his squatter's claim in I830, and emigrated to Macon Co., Ill. Abraham Lincoln was then twenty-one years of age. With vigorous hands he aided his father in rearing another log-cabin. Abraham worked diligently at this until he saw the family comfortably settled, and their small lot of enclosed prairie planted with corn, when he announced to his father his intention to leave home, and to go out into the world and seek his fortune. Little did he or his friends imagine how brilliant that fortune was to be. He saw the value of education and was intensely earnest to improve his mind to the utmost of his power. He saw the ruin which ardent spirits were causing, and became strictly temperate; refusing to allow a drop of intoxicating liquor to pass his lips. And he had read in God's word, "Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain;" and a profane expression he was never heard to utter. Religion he revered. His morals were pure, and he was uncontaminated by a single vice. Young Abraham worked for a time as a hired laborer among the farmers. Then he went to Springfield, where he was employed in building a large flat-boat. In this he took a herd of swine, floated them down the Sangamon to the Illinois, and thence by the Mississippi to New Orleans. Whatever Abraham Lincoln undertook, he performed so faithfully as to give great satisfaction to his employers. In this adven ABRAHAM LINCOLN. -. ture his employers were so well pleased, that upon his return they placed a store and mill under his care. In I832, at the outbreak of the Black Hawk war, he enlisted and was chosen captain of a company. He returned to Sangamon County, and although only 23 years of age, was a candidate for the Legislature, but was defeated. He soon after received from Andrew Jackson the appointment of Postmaster of New Salem, His only post-office was his hat. All the letters he received he carried there ready to deliver to those he chanced to meet. He studied surveying, and soon made this his business. In i834 he again became a candidate for the Legislature, and was elected Mr. Stuart, of Springfield, advised him to study law. He walked from New Salem to Springfield, borrowed of Mr. Stuart a load of books, carried them back and began his legal studies. When the Legislature assembled he trudged on foot with his pack on his back one hundred miles to Vandalia, then the capital. In 1836 he was re-elected to the Legislature. Here it was he first met Stephen A. Douglas. In I839 he removed to Springfield and began the practice of law. His success with the jury was so great that he was soon engaged in almost every noted case in the circuit. In i854 the great discussion began between Mr. Lincoln and Mr. Douglas, on the slavery question. In the organization of the Republican party in Illinois, in i856, he took an active part, and at once became one of the leaders in that party. Mr. Lincoln's speeches in opposition to Senator Douglas in the contest in 1858 for a seat in the Senate, form a most notable part of his history. The issue was on the;lavery question, and he took the broad ground of the Declaration of Independence, that all men are created equal. Mr. Lincoln was defeated in this contest, but won a far higher prize. The great Republican Convention met at Chicago on the i6th of June, i860. The delegates and strangers who crowded the city amounted to twentyfive thousand. An immense building called "The Wigwam," was reared to accommodate the Convention. There were eleven candidates for whom votes were thrown. William H. Seward, a man whose fame as a statesman had long filled the land, was the most Prominent. It was generally supposed he would be the nominee. Abraham Lincoln, however, received the nomination on the third ballot. Little did he then dream of the weary years of toil and care, and the bloody death, to which that nomination doomed him: and as little did he dream that he was to render services to his country, which would fix upon him the eyes of the whole civilized world, and which would give him a place in the affections of his countrymen, second only, if second, to that of Washington. Election day came and Mr. Lincoln received 180 electoral votes out of 203 cast, and was, therefore, constitutionally elected President of the United States. The tirade of abuse that was poured upon this good and merciful man, especially by the slaveholders, was greater than upon any other man ever elected to this high position. In February, i86, Mr. Lincoln started for Washington, stopping in all the large cities on his way making speeches. The whole journey was frought with much danger. Many of the Southern States had already seceded, and several attempts at assassination were afterwards brought to light. A gang in Baltimore had arranged, upon his arrival to" get up a row," and in the confusion to make sure of his death with revolvers and hand-grenades. A detective unravelled the plot. A secret and special train was provided to take him from Harrisburg, through Baltimore, at an unexpected hour of the night. The train started at half-past ten; and to prevent aiy possible communication on the part ot the Secessionists with their Confederate gang in Baltimore, as soon as the train had started the telegraph-wires were cut. Mr. Lincoln reached Washington in safety and was inaugurated, although great anxiety was felt by all loyal people. In the selection of his cabinet Mr. Lincoln gave to Mr. Seward the Department of State, and to other prominent opponents before the convention he gave important positions. During no other administration have the duties devolving upon the President been so manifold, and the responsibilities so great, as those which fell to the lot of President Lincoln. Knowing this, and feeling his own weakness and inability to meet, and in his own strength to cope with, the difficulties, he learned early to seek Divine wisdom and guidance in determining his plans, and Divine comfort in all his trials, both personal and national. Contrary to his own estimate of himself, Mr. Lincoln was one of the most courageous of men. He went directly into the rebel capital just as the retreating foe was leaving, with no guard but a few sailors. From the time he had left Springfield, in i86I, however, plans had been made for his assassination,and he at last fell a victim to one of them. April 14, i865, he, with Gen. Grant, was urgently invited to attend Fords' Theater. It was announced that they would be present. Gen. Grant, however, left the city. President Lincoln, feeling, witti his characteristic kindliness of heart, that it would be a disappointment if he should fail them, very reluctantly consented to go. While listening to the play an actor by the name of John Wilkes Booth entered the box where the President and family were seated, and fired a bullet into his brains. He died the next morning at seven o'clock. Never before, in the history of the world was a nation plunged into such deep grief by the death of its ruler. Strong men met in the streets and wept in speechless anguish. It is not too much to say that a nation was in tears. His was a life which will fitly become a model. His name as the savior of his country will live with that of Washington's, its father; his contrymen being unable to decide which is the greater. I m-1yV SE VE NTEENTHI PRESIDEN. T. _._ ~na,~ -- -- 8 — X AI D RNDREW JOHNSON, seven-. ~/t~1! Eteenth President of the United X States. The early life of Andrew Johnson contains but the record of poverty, destitfution and friendlessness. He?! was born December 29, 18o8, l [in Raleigh, N. C. His parents, belonging to the class of the 7rfi "poor whites " of the South, were ) in such circumstances, that they could not confer even the slightest advantages of education upon 'i their child. When Andrew was five years of age, his father accidentally lost his life while herorically endeavoring to save a friend from drowning. Until ten years of age, Andrew was a ragged boy about the streets, supported by the labor of his mother, who obtained her living with her own hands. He then, having never attended a school one day, and being unable either to read or write, was apprenticed to a tailor in his native town. A gentleman was in the habit of going to the tailor's shop occasionally, and reading to the boys at work there. He often read from the speeches of distinguished British statesmen. Andrew, who was endowed with a mind of more than ordinary native ability, became much interested in these speeches; his ambition was roused, and he was inspired with a strong desire to learn to read. He accordingly applied himself to the alphabet, and with the assistance of some of his fellow-workmen, learned his letters. He then called upon the gentleman to borrow the book of speeches. The owner, pleased with his zeal, not only gave him the book; but assisted him in learning to combine the letters into words. Under such difficulties he pressed o0 -ward laboriously, spending usually ten or twelve hours at work in the shop, and then robbing himself of rest and recreation to devote such time as he could to reading. He went to Tennessee in 1826, and located at Greenville, where he married a young lady who pos sessed some education. Under her instructions he learned to write and cipher. He became prominent in the village debating society, and a favorite with the students of Greenville College. In 1828, he or. ganized a working man's party, which elected him alderman, and in 1830 elected him mayor, which position he held three years. He now began to take a lively interest in political affairs; identifying himself with the working-classes, to which he belonged. In I835, he was elected a member of the House of Representatives of Tennes. see. He was then just twenty-seven years of age. He became a very active member of the legislature: gave his adhesion to the Democratic party, and in 140 o "stumped the State," advocating Martin Tlan Buren's claims to the Presidency, in opposition to thos, of Gen. Harrison. In this campaign he acquired much readiness as a speaker, and extended and increased his reputation. In 1841, he was elected State Senator; in 1843, he was elected a member of Congress, and by successive elections, held that important post for ten years. In I853, he was elected Governor of Tennessee, and was re-elected in I855. In all these responsible positions, he discharged his duties with distinguished abi; 84 A NDRE TV JOHNSON. 84 A R JOHNSON..I ity, and proved himself the warm friend of the working classes. In 1857, Mr. Johnson was elected United States Senator. Years before, in I845, he had warmly advocated the annexation of Texas, stating however, as his reason, that he thought this annexation would probably prove " to be the gateway out of which the sable sons of Africa are to pass from bondage to freedom, and become merged in a population congenial to themselves." In I850, he also supported the compromise measures, the two essential features of which were, that the white people of the Territories should be permitted to decide for themselves whether they would enslave the colored people or not, and that the free States of the North should return to the South persons who attempted to escape from slavery. Mr. Johnson was never ashamed of his lowly origin: on the contrary, he often took pride in avowing that he owed his distinction to his own exertions. "Sir," said he on the floor of the Senate, " I do not forget that I am a mechanic; neither do I forget that Adam was a tailor and sewed fig-leaves, and that our Savior was the son of a carpenter." In the Charleston-Baltimore convention of I8t,, he was the choice of the Tennessee Democrats for the Presidency. In I86I, when the purpose of the South2rn Democracy became apparent, he took a decided stand in favor of the Union, and held that " slavery must be held subordinate to the Union at whatever cost." He returned to Tennessee, and repeatedly imperiled his own life to protect the Unionists of Tennesee. Tennessee having seceded from the Union, President Lincoln, on March 4th, 1862, appointed him Military Governor of the State, and he established the most stringent military rule. His numerous proclamations attracted wide attention. In 1864, he was elected Vice-President of the United States, and upon the death of Mr. Lincoln, April 15, i865, became President. In a speech two days later he said, "The American people must be taught, if they do not already feel, that treason is a crime and must be punished; that the Government will not always bear with its enemies; that it is strong not only to protect, but to punish. * * The people must understand that it (treason) is the blackest of crimes, and will surely be punished." Yet his whole administration, the history of which is so well known, was in utter inconsistency with, and the most violent opposition to, the principles laid down in that speech. In his loose policy of reconstruction and general amnesty, he was opposed by Congress; and he char; acterized Congress as a new rebellion, and lawlessly defied it, in everything possible, to the utmost. In the beginning of I868, on account of "high crimes and misdemeanors," the principal of which was the removal of Secretary Stanton, in violation of the Tenure of Office Act, articles of impeachment were preferred against him, and the trial began March 23. It was very tedious, continuing for nearly three months. A test article of the impeachment was at length submitted to the court for its action. It was certain that as the court voted upon that article so would it vote upon all. Thirty-four voices pronounced the President guilty. As a two-thirds vote was necessary to his condemnation, he was pronounced acquitted, notwithstanding the great majority against him. The change of one vote from the not guilty side would have sustained the impeachment. The President, for the remainder of his term, was but little regarded. He continued, though impotently, his conflict with Congress. His own party did not think it expedient to renominate him for the Presidency. The Nation rallied, with enthusiasm unparalleled since the days of Washington, around the name of Gen. Grant. Andrew Johnson was forgotten. The bullet of the assassin introduced him to the President's chair. Notwithstanding this, never was there presented to a man a better opportunity to immortalize his name, and to win the gratitude of a nation. He failed utterly. He retired to his home in Greenville, Tenn., taking no very active part in politics until I875. On Jan. 26, after an exciting struggle, he was chosen by the Legislature of Tennessee, United States Senator in the forty-fourth Congress, and took his seat in that body, at the special session convened by President Grant, on the 5th of March. On the 27th of July, i875, the ex-President made a visit to his daughter's home, near Carter Station, Tenn. When he started on his journey, he was apparently in his usual vigorous health, but on reaching the residence of his child the following day, was stricken with paralysis, rendering him unconscious. He rallied occasionally, but finally passed away at 2 A. M., July 31, aged sixty-seven years. His funeral was attended at Geenville, on the 3d of August, with every demonstration of respect. It .01 r EIGrHTEENTH PRESIDENT. 87 EIHEET R E- - -T C)'$AS -1 Aft~^ vv c LYSSES S. GRANT, the r(~ I eighteenth President of the United States, was born on i the 29th of April, I822, of ~[ Christian parents, in a humble home, at Point Pleasant, on the i" banks of the Ohio. Shortly after his father moved to George. town, Brown Co., O. In this remote frontier hamlet, Ulysses received a common-school education. At the age of seven-? teen, in the year I839, he entered v' the Military Academy at West I Point. Here he was regarded as a solid, sensible young man of fair abilities, and of sturdy, honest character. He took respectable rank as a scholar. In June, I843, he graduated, about the middle in his class, and was sent as lieutenant of infantry to one of the distant military posts in the Misscuri Territory. Two years he past in these dreary solitudes, watching the vagabond and exasperating Indians. The war with Mexico came. Lieut. Grant was sent with his regiment to Corpus Christi. His first battle was at Palo Alto. There was no chance here for the exhibition of either skill or heroism, nor at Resaca de la Palma, his second battle. At the battle of Monterey, his third engagement, it is said that he performed a signal service of daring and skillful horsemanship. His brigade had exhausted its ammunition. A messenger must be sent for more, along a route exposed to the bullets of the foe. Lieut. Grant, adopting an expedient learned of the Indians, grasped the mane of his horse, and hanging upon one side of the animal, ran the gauntlet in entire safety. From Monterey he was sent,with the fourth infantry, to aid Gen. Scott, at the siege of Vera Cruz. In preparation for the march to the city of Mexico, he was appointed quartermaster of his regiment. At the battle of Molino del Rey, he was promoted to a first lieutenancy, and was brevetted captain at Chapultepec. At the close of the Mexican War, Capt. Grant returned with his regiment to New York, and was again sent to one of the military posts on the frontier. The discovery of gold in California causing an immense tide of emigration to flow to the Pacific shores, Capt. Grant was sent with a battalion to Fort Dallas, in Oregon, for the protection of the interests of the immigrants. Life was wearisome in those wilds. Capt. Grant resigned his commission and returned to the States; and having married, entered upon the cultivation of a small farm near St. Louis, Mo. He had but little skill as a farmer. Finding his toil not remunerative, he turned to mercantile life, entering into the leather business, with a younger brother, at Galena, Ill. This was in the year I860. As the tidings of the rebels firing on Fort Sumpter reached the ears of Capt. Grant in his counting-room, he said,"Uncle Sam has educated me for the army; though I have served him through one war, I do not feel that I have yet repaid the debt. I am still ready to discharge my obligations. I shall therefore buckle on my sword and see Uncle Sam through this war too." He went into the streets, raised a company of volunteers, and led them as their captain to Springfield, the capital of the State, where their services were offered to Gov. Yates. The Governor, impressed by the zeal and straightforward executive ability of Capt. Grant, gave him a desk in his office, to assist in the volunteer organization that was being formed in the State in behalf of the Government. On the Isth of 88 ULYSSES S. GRA NT. L. R N. June, x86I, Capt. Grant received a commission as Colonel of the Twenty-first Regiment of Illinois Volunteers. His merits as a West Point graduate, who had served for 15 years in the regular army, were such that he was soon promoted to the rank of BrigadierGeneral and was placed in command at Cairo. The rebels raised their banner at Paducah, near the mouth of the Tennessee River. Scarcely had its folds appeared in the breeze ere Gen. Grant was there. The rebels fled. Their banner fell, and the star and stripes were unfurled in its stead. He entered the service with great determination and immediately began active duty. This was the beginning, and until the surrender of Lee at Richmond he was ever pushing the enemy with great vigor and effectiveness. At Belmont, a few days later, he surprised and routed the rebels, then at Fort Henry won another victory. Then came the brilliant fight at Fort Donelson. The nation was electrified by the victory, and the brave leader of the boys in blue was immediately made a Major-General, and the military Jistrict of Tennessee was assigned to him. Like all great captains, Gen. Grant knew well how to secure the results of victory. He immediately pushed on to the enemies' lines. Then came the terrible battles of Pittsburg Landing, Corinth, and the siege of Vicksburg, where Gen. Pemberton made an unconditional surrender of the city with over thirty thousand men and one-hundred and seventy-two cannon. The fall of Vicksburg was by far the most severe blow which the rebels had thus far encountered, and opened up the Mississippi from Cairo to the Gulf. Gen. Grant was next ordered to co-operate with Gen. Banks in a movement upon Texas, and proceeded to New Orleans, where he was thrown from his horse, and received severe injuries, from which he was laid up for months. He then rushed to the aid of Gens. Rosecrans and Thomas at Chattanooga, and by a wonderful series of strategic and technical measures put the Union Army in fighting condition. Then followed the bloody battles at Chattanooga, Lockout Mountain and Missionary Ridge, in which the rebels were routed with great loss. This won for him unbounded praise in the North. On the 4th of February, I864, Congress revived the grade of lieutenantgeneral, and the rank was conferred on Gen. Grant. He repaired to Washington to receive his credentials and enter upon tbe duties of his new office. I Gen. Grant decided as soon as he took charge of the army to concentrate the widely-dispersed National troops for an attack upon Richmond, the nominal capital of the Rebellion, and endeavor there to destroy the rebel armies which would be promptly assembled from all quarters for its defence. The whole continent seemed to tremble under the tramp of these majestic armies, rushing to the decisive battle field. Steamers were crowded with troops. Railway trains were burdened with closely packed thousands. His plans were comprehensive and involved a series of campaigns, which were executed with remarkable energy and ability, and were consummated at the surrender of Lee, April 9, I865. The war was ended. The Union was saved. The almost unanimous voice of the Nation declared Gen. Grant to be the most prominent instrument in its salvation. The eminent services he had thus rendered the country brought him conspicuously forward as the Republican candidate for the Presidential chair. At the Republican Convention held at Chicago. May 21, 868, he was unanimously nominated for the Presidency, and at the autumn election received a majority of the popular vote, and 214 out of 294 electoral votes. The National Convention of the Republican party which met at Philadelphia on the 5th of June, I872, placed Gen. Grant in nomination for a second term by a unanimous vote. The selection was emphatically indorsed by the people five months later, 292 electoral votes being cast for him. Soon after the close of his second term, Gen. Grant started upon his famous trip around the world. He visited almost every country of the civilized world, and was everywhere received with such ovations and demonstrations of respect and honor, private as well as public and official, as were never before bestowed upon any citizen of the United States. * He was the most prominent candidate before the Republican National Convention in I880 for a renomination for President. He went to New York and embarked in the brokerage business under the firm nameof Grant & Ward. Thle latter proved a villain, wrecked Grant's fortune, and for larceny was sent to the penitentiary. The General was attacked with cancer in the throat, but suffered in his stoic-like manner, never complaining. He was re-instated as General of the Army and retired by Congress. The cancer soon finished its deadly work, and July 23, 1885, the nation went in mourning over the death of the illustrious General, i 0 I i o q.. ~ oA m, wl - 1-0- ~-00 o i:-o-] —o-." -~-~ -,,~-" i t 1,, ': , - - - I I I '(,. NINE TENTH PRESIDENT. 91 R UT'HEIt'O'RP 3X HAJVS~e;^______________^l 1 ~r ^, -, VS /O& EBI^IT3i"?"!^'^)!^ 4) I+7 I~W UTHERFORD B. HAYES, the nineteenth President of Delaware, O., Oct. 4, 1822, al- most three months after the?j^y death of his father, Rutherford e,