a spirit of independence too just to invade the rights of others, too proud to surrender our own, too liberal to indulge unworthy prejudices ourselves, and too elevated not to look down upon them in others; to hold the union of the states as the basis of their peace and happiness; to support the constitution, which is the cement of the union, as well in its limitations as in its authorities; to respect the rights and authorities reserved to the states and to the people, as equally incorporated with, and essential to the success of, the general system; to avoid the slightest interference with the rights of conscience or the functions of religion, so wisely exempted from civil jurisdiction; to preserve in their full energy the other salutary provisions in behalf of private and personal rights, and of the freedom of the press; to observe economy in public expenditures; to liberate the public resources by an honorable discharge of the public debts; to keep within the requisite limits a standing military force, always remembering that an armed and trained militia is the firmest bulwark of republics-that without standing armies their liberties can never be in danger, nor with large ones safe; to promote by authorized means, improvements friendly to agriculture, to manufactures, and to external as well as internal commerce; to favor in like manner the advancement of science and the diffusion of information as the best aliment to true liberty; to carry on the benevolent plans which have been so meritoriously applied to the conversion of our aboriginal neighbors from the degradation and wretch

edness of savage life to a participation of the improvements of which the human mind and manners are susceptible in a civilized state; as far as sentiments and intentions such as these can aid the fulfilment of my duty, they will be a resource which cannot fail me."

As if to leave no room for doubt, that he cordially and heartily concurred in the views and opinions which had ever guided and controlled the public career of his distinguished predecessor, and which, at the recent election, had been a third time emphatically endorsed and approved by the American people, he further remarked :-" It is my good fortune, moreover, to have the path in which I am to tread lighted by examples of illustrious services, successfully rendered in the most trying difficulties by those who have marched before me. Of those of my immediate predecessor it might least become me here to speak. I may, however, be pardoned for not suppressing the sympathy with which my heart is full, in the rich reward he enjoys in the benedictions of a beloved country, gratefully bestowed for exalted talents, zealously devoted, through a long career, to the advancement of its highest interest and happiness."

Immediately after his inauguration, Mr, Madison organized his cabinet by the promotion of Robert Smitn, of Maryland, Secretary of the Navy under Mr. Jefferson, to the State Department. Albert Gallatin, of Pennsylvania, was continued in the office of Secretary of the Treasury, and Cæsar A. Rodney, of Dela

ware, in that of attorney-general. William Eustis, of Massachusetts, was appointed Secretary of War, in the place of Henry Dearborn, transferred to the collectorship of the port of Boston; and the vacancy in the Navy Department was filled by the selection of Paul Hamilton, of South Carolina. Gideon Granger, of New York, was continued as postmaster general, not then a cabinet officer.

Having completed the list of his advisers, when the new president turned to survey his position, he found that it was by no means an enviable one. The firmness, the unflinching determination, and the resolute and enthusiastic perseverance of Jefferson, Gallatin, Clinton, Livingston, and their coadjutors, had, indeed, been successful in restoring the ship of state to the republican track; yet he had inherited, as a legacy, all the embarrassments and difficulties in the foreign relations of the government, which had originated during the administration of Washington, and, from year to year, become more and more involved, and grown more and more perplexing, till it seemed as if the Gordian knot could be severed only by the sword. At home all might have been peace and prosperity; but every thing that would otherwise have appeared bright and fair, rested in the dark shadow thrown from the other side of the Atlantic.

"Many years elapsed after the conclusion of the treaty of peace in 1783, before Great Britain entirely abandoned her expectations of re-establishing, at some future, and not very remote day, her authority over

her revolted American colonies. It was customary for her writers and politicians to underrate the importance, and sneer at the pretensions of the young republic, till they saw, in the rapidly extending commerce and growing prosperity which followed the restoration of peace and tranquility, unmistakable indications that the daughter would soon be no mean rival of the mother country in the race of nations. To check these germs of greatness ere they should bud and blossom, was now the favorite object of English statesmen. As no pretext existed for open hostilities, resort was had to the low arts of diplomacy— to intrigue and cunning; and amid the moral and political corruption which, at that era, polluted the atmosphere of St. James, plans were concocted whose atrocity must ever stand out in bold relief on the page of impartial history.

"Disregarding the provisions of the treaty of 1783, the British authorities retained possession of the military posts northwest of the Ohio, and to these, and similar establishments in the Canadas, agents were sent to suborn and tamper with the savages on the northern frontiers of the American Union, and incite them to commit acts of hostility upon the persons and property of the settlers who had found their way into the rich valley of the Mississippi. It was the policy of Washington, and after him of Adams, Jefferson and Madison, to purchase the lands belonging to the Indian tribes, required by the increasing white population of the country, at a fair equivalent; to furnish them the means of civilization; to provide for them.

the restraints of well-ordered and wholesome regula tions; to enkindle new desires, and impart new motives in their breasts; to enlighten their minds and christianize their hearts. England, on the contrary,

forgetting the eloquent and indignant denunciations of her Chatham, and careless how she sullied the national escutcheon, already stained by many a foul blot, supplied them with arms and ammunition,-with blankets, tobacco and fire water,-not to induce them to cultivate harmony and good will with their neighbors, the citizens of the United States; but to minister to their most depraved appetites, and arouse the most vindictive passions of their natures. She asked them not to lay aside the implements of death, and engage in the pursuits of peace; but invited them to continue their barbarous warfare, and glut their vengeance, to the full, with the tomahawk and scalping-knife !

"Under the auspices of Simcoe, and other agents of Great Britain, immediately after the peace, a combination was formed among the northwestern Indians, the object of which was to prevent the Americans from extending their settlements beyond the Alleghanies. The border inhabitants were constantly harrassed by the irruptions of the savages; scenes of bloodshed and murder were of frequent occurrence; and when efforts were made to chastise the perpetrators of these outrages, they found in England a fast and firm friend, whose assistance, though not openly rendered, proved of essential service to her allies. Her influence was felt in the defeat of Harmar and