1835] DEATH OF MONROE, CARROLL, RANDOLPH.

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laid in ashes before the flames were stayed; 529 houses and $18,000,000 worth of property were consumed. It was feared that so serious a loss would embarrass the business community; a few failures occurred, but "the burnt district" was speedily covered with magnificent warehouses, which greatly improved that section of the city. The other fire alluded to took place at Washington, Dec. 15th, 1836, destroying the U. S. Post-Office, and the Patent-Office, with 7,000 models and 10,000 designs of inventions.

544. The great men who died during Jackson's administration must not be forgotten. On the 4th of July, 1831, Monroe breathed his last at the residence of his son-in-law in New York, in his 72d year. He died, like Jefferson and Adams, amid national rejoicings for blessings which he had helped to secure. Monroe was a native of Westmoreland County, Virginia. He shed his blood at Trenton in the Revolutionary War, served with gallantry at Brandywine, Germantown, and Monmouth, and was eminently successful as a diplomatist and statesman.

The year 1832 witnessed the departure of Charles Carroll, of Carrollton, the last surviving signer of the Declaration of Independence, at the advanced age of 96. He had served his country in various public stations with fidelity and success, and had seen it increase in population from two to thirteen millions. The same year died Philip Freneau [fre-no'], one of the poets of the Revolution, whose patriotic verses had done much towards rousing his countrymen for that great struggle. He died at the age of 80, near Freehold, New Jersey.

On the 24th of May, 1833, John Randolph, of Roanoke, Va., a descendant of Pocahontas, died at the age of 60. He commenced public life in 1799, and served thirty years in Congress, where he became distinguished for his eccentric conduct, his sharpness of wit, and his tremendous powers of sarcasm, which made him feared by all parties. In 1830, Give an account of the great fire in New York. What other fire took place about a year after? 544. Give an account of the death of Monroe, Where was he born? What is said of his previous history? What two distinguished men died in 1832? What is said of Charles Carroll? What, of Philip Freneau? When did

Jackson appointed him minister to Russia.

Randolph's

speeches were widely read and admired. Poetry and history were his favorite studies, and few were better versed in them than he.

Two more of the

great men of Virginia, Chief-Justice Marshall and ExPresident Madison, died respectively in 1835 and 1836, the former aged 80, the latter 85. As a member of Congress, a cabinet officer, and chief-justice of the U. S., Marshall did good service to his country. His abilities as a writer are

conspicuously displayed in his widely-read and still popular "Life of Washington".

545. Arkansas was admitted into the Union in June, 1836, and Michigan in the following January.

546. Gen. Jackson's second term being about to expire, Martin Van Buren was nominated to succeed him by the democrats, or supporters of the administration; while its opponents, who in 1836 assumed the name of whigs, voted chiefly for Gen. Harrison, of Ohio. Van Buren was elected, and inaugurated on the 4th of March, 1837. No vice-president having been chosen by the people, Col. Richard M. Johnson, of Kentucky, one of the heroes of Tippecanoe, was elected by the senate to that office.

Randolph, of Roanoke, die? At what age? What is said of his public life and attainments? What two other distinguished Virginians died during Jackson's term? What is said of Chief-Justice Marshall? 545. When were Arkansas and Michigan admitted? 546. Who were the candidates at the next presidential election? Who was elected? When was he inaugurated? Who was chosen vicepresident?

1837]

VAN BUREN'S ADMINISTRATION.

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CHAPTER XI.

VAN BUREN'S ADMINISTRATION, 1837-1841.

547. MARTIN VAN BUREN was born at Kinderhook, New York, on the 5th of December, 1782. He left school at 14; was admitted to the bar at 21; was elected to the N. Y. senate in his 30th year; was sent to the U. S. senate in 1821; was chosen governor of N. Y. in 1828; became Jackson's secretary of state the following year; was appointed minister to Great Britain, and then received in succession the two highest offices in the gift of his countrymen.

548. Hardly was Van Buren seated in the presidential chair, when the business community were paralyzed by a revulsion in their monetary affairs. The last year of Jackson's administration had been one of great apparent prosperity. The national debt was extinguished, and a surplus of nearly $40,000,000 had accumulated in the treasury, which Congress ordered to be distributed among the several states. Banks had multiplied to such an extent that there were computed to be no less than 677 in the Union, with 146 branches; most of which had issued notes to a large amount beyond what they were able to redeem. Business men traded extensively on credit, and in many cases gave up honest industry for wild speculation. This unhealthy state of things was necessarily followed by a revulsion, and the crisis occurred in the spring of 1837. The banks of New York and New Orleans suspended specie payments,—that is, refused to redeem their notes with gold or silver; and their example was followed throughout the country. Several hundred mercantile houses immediately stopped payment, and in New Orleans alone failures to the amount of $27,000,000 took place within two days.

An order known as "the specie circular" had been issued

547. Where and when was Martin Van Buren born? Give a sketch of his public life. 548. What took place immediately after Van Buren's inauguration? What is assigned as the cause of this revulsion? When did the crisis occur? What were the banks compelled to do? What was the consequence? What was the substance of " the specie circular"? Who petitioned the president to rescind

by Jackson, requiring all payments to the government to be made in gold and silver, and thus, it was claimed, large quantities of specie were kept out of circulation. A committee of N. Y. merchants petitioned the president to rescind the circular. Van Buren refused their request, but called an extra session of Congress. That body took measures to protect the government from embarrassment, but could do little to relieve the prevalent distress. The return of confidence and prosperity was necessarily slow. The New York banks resumed specie payments in May, 1838, as did those in other places shortly after.

At this extra session Van Buren submitted his famous Sub-treasury scheme, for the safe keeping of the public funds. It was at first violently opposed and failed to pass; but, presented at a subsequent session, it became a law in 1840. The Sub-treasury Bill provided that all government dues should be paid in gold or silver, which should not, as before, be deposited in banks, but should be kept in certain offices in the chief cities of the Union, under the care of persons appointed for the purpose, called sub-treasurers, who should give security for the proper discharge of their duty. The Sub-treasury Bill was the great measure of Van Buren's administration, and called forth violent denunciations from his opponents. Keeping a large amount of specie in the vaults of government, it compelled the banks to limit their operations, and through them acted on the community. With such effect was this argument used in the election of 1840, that Van Buren, who was running for a second term, was defeated by a large majority.

549. In 1837, a portion of the Canadians rose against the British government and attempted to establish their independence. The people of the U. S., particularly those of New York, sympathized with the insurgents, and many

it? How did the president answer their petition? What was done by Congress? When did the banks resume payment? What scheme did the president submit at this extra session? What was its fate? Give the substance of the Sub-treasury Bill. What argument was urged against it? What was the consequence? 549. In 1837, what attempt was made by some of the Canadians? How did the people of the U. S. feel on the subject? What was done by a party of 700 men? [See

1837]

TROUBLES ON THE CANADA FRONTIER.

413

pro

crossed the border to render them assistance. A party of 700 men took possession of Navy Island, a British dependency in the Niagara River [see Map, p. 351], and fortified it so strongly as to resist an attack from the loyalists. The steamer Caroline was employed to bring them munitions from Schlosser, on the American side. Late at night, near the close of December, 1837, a party of loyalists crossed from Canada, set fire to the Caroline, cut her from her moorings, and allowed her to drift over the falls. By these ceedings the peaceful relations between Great Britain and the U.S. were endangered; but Van Buren promptly issued a proclamation forbidding interference in the affairs of Canada, and sent Gen. Wool to the frontier. The force on Navy Island surrendered their arms and dispersed; and, not long after, another body which had assembled in N. Y. near the Canada line, with hostile intentions, followed their example. The insurrection was soon suppressed, and harmony between the two countries was once more restored.

CHAPTER XII.

ADMINISTRATION OF HARRISON AND TYLER, 1841-1845.

550. VAN BUREN was succeeded by William Henry Harrison, of Ohio, who was inaugurated March 4th, 1841. Harrison was born on the James River, Virginia, in 1773, and on the death of his father was placed under the guardianship of Robert Morris, the great financier of the Revolution. Having graduated at Hampden Sidney College, he applied himself to the study of medicine; but, before the completion of his course, the news of Indian aggressions in the west led him to join the army then about to take the Map, p. 351.-What place in New York near Navy Island? What other island in the Niagara River?] How did the loyalists retaliate? What were endangered by these proceedings? What steps were taken by the president? What was the result?

550. By whom was Van Buren succeeded? When was Harrison inaugurated? Give a sketch of Harrison's previous history. What won for Harrison the con