must sooner or later be obeyed. And while the people remain, as I trust they ever will, uncorrupted and incorruptible, and continue watchful and jealous of their rights, the government is safe, and the cause of freedom will continue to triumph over all its enemies.

But it will require steady and persevering exertions on your part to rid yourself of the iniquities and mischiefs of the paper system, and to check the spirit of monopoly and other abuses which have sprung up with it, and of which it is the main support. So many interests are united to resist all reform on this subject, that you must not hope the conflict will be a short one, nor success easy. My humble efforts have not been spared, during my administration of the government, to restore the constitutional currency of gold and silver; and something, I trust, has been done toward the accomplishment of this most desirable object. But enough yet remains to require all your energy and perseverance. The power, however, is in your hands, and the remedy must and will be applied, if you determine upon it.

While I am thus endeavoring to press upon your attention the principles which I deem of vital importance to the domestic concerns of the country, I ought not to pass over without notice the important considerations which should govern your policy toward foreign powers. It is unquestionably our true interest to cultivate the most friendly understanding with every nation, and to avoid, by every honorable means, the calamities of war; and we shall best attain this object by frankness and sincerity in our foreign intercourse, by the prompt and faithful execution of treaties, and by justice and impartiality in our conduct to all. But no nation, however desirous of peace, can hope to escape collisions with other powers; and the soundest dictates of policy require that we should place ourselves in a condition to assert our rights, if a resort to force should ever become necessary. Our local situation, our long line of seacoast, indented by numerous bays, with deep rivers opening into the interior, as well as our extended and still increasing commerce, point to the navy as our natural means of defence. It will, in the end, be found to be the cheapest and most effectual; and now is the time, in the season of peace, and with an overflowing revenue, that we can, year after year, add to its strength, without increasing the burdens of the people. It is your true policy. For your navy will not only protect your rich and flourishing commerce in distant seas, but enable you to reach and annoy the enemy, and will give to defence its greatest efficiency, by meeting danger at a distance from home. It is impossible, by any line of fortifications, to guard every point from attack against a hostile force advancing from the ocean and selecting its object; but they are indispensable to protect cities from bombardment; dock-yards and navy arsenals from destruction; to give shelter to merchant-vessels in time of war, and to single ships or weaker squadrons when pressed by superior force. Fortifications of this description can not be too soon completed and armed, and placed in a condition of the most perfect preparation. The abundant means we now possess can not be applied in any manner more useful to the country; and when this is done, and our naval force sufficiently strengthened, and our militia armed, we need not fear that any nation will wantonly insult us, or needlessly provoke hostilities. We shall more certainly preserve peace, when it is well understood that we are prepared for war.

In presenting to you, my fellow-citizens, these parting counsels, I have brought before you the leading principles upon which I endeavored to ad

minister the government in the high office with which you twice honored me. Knowing that the path of freedom is continually beset by enemies, who often assume the disguise of friends, I have devoted the last hours of my public life to warn you of the dangers. The progress of the United States, under our free and happy institutions, has surpassed the most sanguine hopes of the founders of the republic. Our growth has been rapid beyond all former example, in numbers, in wealth, in knowledge, and all the useful arts which contribute to the comforts and convenience of man; and from the earliest ages of history to the present day, there never have been thirteen millions of people associated together in one political body who enjoyed so much freedom and happiness as the people of these United States. You have no longer any cause to fear danger from abroad; your strength and power are well known throughout the civilized world, as well as the high and gallant bearing of your sons. It is from within among yourselves, from cupidity, from corruption, from disappointed ambition, and inordinate thirst for power, that factions will be formed and liberty endangered. It is against such designs, whatever disguise the actors may assume, that you have especially to guard yourselves. You have the highest of human trusts committed to your care. Providence has showered on this favored land blessings without number, and has chosen you as the guardians of freedom, to preserve it for the benefit of the human race. May He, who holds in his hands the destinies of nations, make you worthy of the favors he has bestowed, and enable you, with pure hearts, and pure hands, and sleepless vigilance, to guard and defend, to the end of time, the great charge he has committed to your keeping.

My own race is nearly run; advanced age and failing health warn me that before long I must pass beyond the reach of human events, and cease to feel the vicissitudes of human affairs. I thank God that my life has been spent in a land of liberty, and that he has given me a heart to love my country with the affection of a son. And filled with gratitude for your constant and unwavering kindness, I bid you a last and affectionate farewell.

ADMINISTRATON OF JACKSON.

On the fourth of March, 1829, General Andrew Jackson entered on his duties as president of the United States. At twelve o'clock of that day, the senate, which had been convened by his predecessor, Mr. Adams, adjourned, after a session of one hour, during which the president elect entered the senate-chamber, attended by the marshal of the district and the committee of arrangements. He had been escorted to the capitol, from Gadsby's hotel, by a few of the surviving officers and soldiers of the revolution, and made the following reply to an address delivered to him at the hotel :

"RESPECTED FRIENDS: Your affectionate address awakens sentiments and recollections which I feel with sincerity, and cherish with pride. To have around my person, at the moment of undertaking the most solemn of all duties to my country, the companions of the immortal Washington, will afford me satisfaction and grateful encouragement. That by my best exertions I shall be able to exhibit more than an imitation of his labors, a sense of my own imperfections, and the reverence I entertain for his virtues, forbid me to hope.

"To you, respected friends, the survivors of that heroic band who followed him so long and so valiantly in the path of glory, I offer my sincere thanks, and to Heaven my prayers, that your remaining years may be as happy as your toils and your lives have been illustrious."

The chief-justice of the United States, and associate judges of the supreme court, entered the senate-chamber soon after the president, and occupied the seats assigned for them, on the right of the president's chair. The foreign ministers and their suites, in their splendid official costumes, occupied seats on the left of the president's chair. A large number of ladies were present. The western gallery was reserved for members of the house of representatives.

After the adjournment of the senate, about noon, a procession was formed to the eastern portico of the capitol, where, in the presence of an immense concourse of spectators, the president delivered his inaugural address; and having concluded it, the oath to support the constitution was administered to him by Chief-Justice Marshall.

Salutes were fired by two companies of artillery, stationed in the vicinity of the capitol, which were repeated at the forts, and by detachments of artillery on the plains. When the president retired, the procession was re-formed, and he was conducted to the presidential mansion. He here received the salutations of a vast number of persons, who came to congratulate him upon his induction to the presidency. The day was serene and mild, and every way favorable to the wishes of those who had come from a distance to witness the ceremony of the inauguration. General Jackson did not call upon President Adams, and the ex-president was not present at the installation of President Jackson.*

The members of Mr. Adams's cabinet having resigned, President Jackson, immediately after his inauguration, nominated to the senate the following gentlemen for heads of the respective departments, who were promptly confirmed, viz.: Martin Van Buren, of New York, secretary of state; Samuel D. Ingham, of Pennsylvania, secretary of the treasury; John H. Eaton, of Tennessee, secretary of war; John Branch, of North Carolina, secretary of the navy; John M'Pherson Berrien, of Georgia, attorney-general. It was determined to introduce the postmaster-general into the cabinet; the incumbent of that office, John M'Lean, was appointed associate justice of the supreme court, and William T. Barry, of Kentucky, received the appointment of postmaster-general. Certain duties in the department of state requiring immediate attention on the accession of a new president, James A. Hamilton, of New York, son of the late General Alexander Hamilton, was charged temporarily with the duties of secretary of state; until Mr. Van Buren could close his business as governor of New York, on the duties of which office he had only entered on the 1st of January, 1829.

The secretaries of state and the navy, and the attorney-general, had been leading supporters of Mr. Crawford, in the presidential contest of 1824. Mr. Ingham was selected through the influence of the vice-presi dent, Mr. Calhoun, and Messrs. Eaton and Barry were among the original supporters of General Jackson.

The cabinet was now constituted, and, after confirming the nomination of some active partisans to diplomatic posts and to lucrative stations in the land office, customhouse, and navy, the senate adjourned on the 17th of March, the executive having informed that body that he had no further business to lay before it. The promised work of reform now commenced in good earnest. Before the inauguration, the capital had been thronged with political partisans, chiefly from the eastern, middle, and western states, all clamorous for some reward for their electioneering services during the canvass. It had been distinctly avowed by the most prominent organs of the successful party, that the president would be urged to reward his friends and punish his enemies; it was expected, therefore, that * Niles's Register.

he would make a prompt and general removal of his opponents from office, and, by the appointment of his friends, secure the ascendency of his party. This expectation was not destined to disappointment. Scarcely had the senate adjourned, when a general system of removal from office was entered upon, with the view of rewarding those who had been instrumental in promoting the president's election.

Never before had so total a change been made in the public offices. Formerly it had been confined to those prominent places which constitute the stakes for which the game of politics is so often played. The revolution extended further now, and men too humble to be claimed by any party were removed from situations upon which they depended for a livelihood, to make room for active partisans. Availing himself of the right of the executive to fill vacancies occurring in the recess, the president, shortly after the adjournment of the senate, removed the principal officers of the treasury, the marshals and district attorneys in most of the eastern, middle, and western states, the revenue-officers of the chief Atlantic ports, the greater part of the receivers and registers in the land-office; and effected an equally radical change in the diplomatic corps.

The number of appointments made by the president during the recess was one hundred and seventy-six, principally in consequence of removals of political opponents from office. During General Washington's administration there were nine removals; of these one was a defaulter. In John Adams's administration of four years there were ten removals; one of these was a defaulter. In Jefferson's, of eight years, there were thirtynine. In James Madison's, of eight years, there were five removals, of which three were defaulters. In James Monroe's, of eight years, there were nine removals, of which six were for cause. In John Quincy Adams's, of four years, there were two removals; both for cause. Total removals by six presidents, seventy-four.

As these removals by President Jackson were invariably made to make room for political adherents, and as with some exceptions no act of official delinquency was proved against the former incumbents, the conduct of the executive was subjected to severe animadversions. He was charged with usurping an authority not conferred by the constitution, which it was contended only gave him the right to fill vacancies, either occasionally occurring, or caused by some official misconduct; and even if acting within the limits of his constitutional prerogative, it was a proscription for opinion's sake, contrary to the spirit of our institutions, and without a precedent in the history of the country. On the other hand, it was contended that the executive was solely invested with the right of removal; that it was a discretionary right, for the exercise of which he was responsible solely to the nation; that that power was given to enable him not only to remove incumbents, for delinquency or incapacity, but with the view of reforming the administration of the government, and introducing officers