The public career of President Jackson is now nearly at an end. Like every other individual who has occupied prominent stations, and assumed the responsibility of daring enterprizes and independent measures, it has been his lot, to see many of his acts condemned by a portion of his fellow citizens. If, however, the fire of party resentment has raged around him, he has come out unharmed from the flames. The scales of prejudice are already falling from the eyes of his enemies, and those who have heretofore seen in his independent course, only the stubbornness of a tyrant, begin to discover in his history, many marks of a statesman's wisdom and a patriot's honesty.

The person of Jackson is singularly erect, tall and thin, and indicates a life of toil, His countenance is striking and animated, and denotes great firmness and energy of mind. His manners are entirely free from that harshness, which we naturally associate with the military character; and although much of his life has been past in camps, he presents an instance and perhaps the only one, of the union of extraordinary firmness of character with extraordinary suavity of manners. His services as President of the United States and Commander in Chief at New-Orleans are alike matters of history, and in future times, the soldier as he risks his life in his country's cause, and the patriot as he stems the tide of corruption for its benefit, will be alike cheered and encouraged by his example.

JACKSON'S MESSAGES.

INAUGURAL ADDRESS, 1829.

Fellow citizens: About to undertake the arduous duties that I have been appointed to perform, by the choice of a free people, I avail myself of this customary and solemn occasion, to express the gratitude which their confidence inspires, and to acknowledge the accountability which my situation enjoins. While the magnitude of their interests convinces me that no thanks can be adequate to the honor they have conferred, it admonishes me that the best return I can make, is the zealous dedication of my humble abilities to their service and their good.

As the instrument of the federal constitution, it will devolve upon me, for a stated period, to execute the laws of the United States; to superintend their foreign and confederate relations; to manage their revenue; to command their forces; and, by communications to the legislature, to watch over and to promote their interests generally. And the principles of action by which I shall endeavor to accomplish this circle of duties, it is now proper for me briefly to explain.

In administering the laws of congress, I shall keep steadily in view the limitations as well as the extent of the executive power, trusting thereby to discharge the functions of my office, without transcending its authority.

With foreign nations it will be my study to preserve peace, and to cultivate friendship on fair and honorable terms; and, in the adjustment of any difference that may exist or arise, to exhibit the forbearance becoming a powerful nation, rather than the sensibility belonging to a gallant people.

In such measures as I may be called on to pursue, in regard to the rights of the separate states, I hope to be animated by a proper respect for those sovereign members of our Union; taking care not to confound the powers they have reserved to themselves, with those they have granted to the confederacy.

The management of the public revenue-that searching operation in all governments—is among the most delicate and important trusts in ours; and it will, of course, demand no inconsiderable share of my official solicitude. Under every aspect in which it can be considered, it would appear that advantage must result from the observance of a strict and faithful economy. This I shall aim at the more anxiously, both because it will facilitate the extinguishment of the national debt-the unnecessary duration of which is incompatible with real independence-and because it will counteract that tendency to public and private profligacy, which a profuse expenditure of money by the government is but too apt to engender. Powerful

auxiliaries to the attainment of this desirable end, are to be found in the regulations provided by the wisdom of congress for the specific appropriation of public money, and the prompt accountability of public officers.

With regard to a proper selection of the subjects of impost, with a view to revenue; it would seem to me that the spirit of equity, caution, and compromise, in which the constitution was formed, requires that the great interests of agriculture, commerce, and manufactures, should be equally favored; and that, perhaps, the only exception to this rule should consist in the peculiar encouragement of any products of either of them that may be found essential to our national independence.

Internal improvement, and the diffusion of knowledge, so far as they can be promoted by the constitutional acts of the federal government, are of high importance.

Considering standing armies as dangerous to free governments, in time of peace, I shall not seek to enlarge our present establishment, nor disregard that salutary lesson of political experience which teaches that the military should be held subordinate to the civil power. The gradual increase of our navy, whose flag has displayed, in distant climes, our skill in navigation, and our fame in arms; the preservation of our forts, arsenals, and dockyards; and the introduction of progressive improvements in the discipline and science of both branches of our military service, are so plainly prescribed by prudence, that I should be excused for omitting their mention, sooner than enlarging on their importance. But the bulwark of our defence is the national militia, which, in the present state of our intelligence and population, must render us invincible. As long as our government is administered for the good of the people, and is regulated by their will; as long as it secures to us the rights of person and property, liberty of conscience, and of the press, it will be worth defending; and so long as it is worth defending, a patriotic militia will cover it with an impenetrable ægis. Partial injuries and occasional mortifications we may be subjected to; but a million of armed freemen, possessed of the means of war, can never be conquered by a foreign foe. To any just system, therefore, calculated to strengthen this natural safeguard of the country, I shall cheerfully lend all the aid in my power.

It will be my sincere and constant desire to observe, towards the Indian tribes within our limits, a just and liberal policy; and to give that humane and considerate attention to their rights and their wants, which are consistent with the habits of our government and the feelings of our people.

The recent demonstration of public sentiment inscribes on the list of executive duties, in characters too legible to be overlooked, the task of reform; which will require, particularly, the correction of those abuses that have brought the patronage of the federal government into conflict with the freedom of elections, and the counteraction of those causes which have disturbed the rightful course