serted on his approach. Having burnt the villages, he marched to St. Marks, then a Spanish post on the Appalachee bay, in Florida.

Two persons, who were traders with the Indians, namely, Arbuthnot, a Scotchman, and Ambrister, a British lieutenant of marines, were taken prisoners by Jackson, near St. Marks, and confined. They were both accused of exciting the Indians to hostility against the United States, and supplying them with arms and ammunition. They were tried by a courtmartial, consisting of officers of the militia, and found guilty. One of them was sentenced to be shot, and the other to be hung, and their execution took place by order of General Jackson.

About the middle of May, General Jackson arrived at the Escambia, near Pensacola, having been informed that a body of hostile Indians had been harbored at that place. He took possession of Pensacola and Fort Barancas, notwithstanding a remonstrance from the governor of the territory. Two Indian chiefs, who were captured, were hung, by order of General Jackson, under circumstances which he deemed justifiable, but for which he was censured by many.

On the 2d June, 1818, General Jackson addressed a letter to the secretary of war, at the close of which he says: "The Seminole war may now be considered as at a close; tranquillity is again restored to the southern frontier of the United States, and, as long as a cordon of military posts is maintained along the gulf of Mexico, America has nothing to apprehend from either foreign or Indian hostilities. The immutable principles of selfdefence justified the occupancy of the Floridas, and the same principles will warrant the American government in holding it, until such time as Spain can guaranty, by an adequate military force, the maintaining of her authority within the colony."

After the campaign in Florida, General Jackson returned to Nashville, and shortly afterward he resigned his commission in the army. During the session of Congress, in January, 1819, he visited Washington, when his transactions in the Seminole war became the subject of investigation by Congress. After a long and exciting debate on the subject, resolutions of censure, for his proceedings in Florida, were rejected in the house of representatives, by a large majority, and his course was sustained by the president and a majority of the cabinet, although the Spanish posts in Florida were restored.

When the congressional investigation had terminated favorably to General Jackson, he visited the cities of Baltimore, Philadelphia, and New York, and various other parts of the United States, being received with enthusiasm by his friends in all quarters, and with distinguished attention by the public authorities and others.

In June, 1821, the president appointed him governor of Florida, which office he accepted, and in August he took possession of the territory, according to the treaty of cession. The Spanish governor, Callava, having re

fused to give up certain public documents, deemed of importance, he was taken into custody, by order of Governor Jackson, and committed to prison. The papers being found, under a search-warrant issued by Jackson, Callava was immediately set at liberty. Jackson remained but a few months in Florida; for, disliking the situation, and disapproving of the extent of powers vested in him as governor, he resigned the office and again retired to Tennessee. President Monroe offered him the appointment of minister to Mexico, which he declined in 1823.

In July, 1822, General Jackson was nominated by the legislature of Tennessee as a candidate for president of the United States. This nom ination was repeated by assemblages of the people in several other states In the autumn of 1823, he was elected by the legislature a senator from Tennessee, and took his seat in the senate of the United States in December, 1823. He voted for the protective tariff of 1824.

The popularity of General Jackson with the people of the United States, was shown at the presidential election of 1824, when he received a greater number of electoral votes than either of his competitors, namely, ninetynine. Mr. Adams received eighty-four, Mr. Crawford forty-one, and Mr. Clay thirty-seven. The election consequently devolved on the house of representatives, where, by the constitutional provision, the decision is made by states. Mr. Adams was elected by that body, receiving the votes of thirteen states; General Jackson seven states; and Mr. Crawford four states. The result caused much dissatisfaction among the friends of General Jackson, but a large proportion of those who had supported Mr. Crawford, as well as most of those who had supported Mr. Clay, preferred Mr. Adams to General Jackson.

During General La Fayette's visit to the United States in 1824-25, he passed through Tennessee, and was received by General Jackson, at the Hermitage, with his accustomed hospitality.

After the election of Mr. Adams to the presidency, the opposition to his administration was soon concentrated upon General Jackson as a candidate to succeed him. In October, 1825, he was again nominated by the legislature of Tennessee for president, on which occasion he resigned his seat in the senate of the United States, in a speech delivered to the legislature, giving his views on public affairs. During the exciting canvass which resulted in his election to the presidency in 1828, by a majority of more than two to one, of the electoral votes, over Mr. Adams, he remained in private life.

In January, 1828, he was present, by invitation, at New Orleans, at the celebration of the anniversary of his victory. Before departing for Washington, in 1829, to take the reins of government, he met with a severe affliction in the death of Mrs. Jackson. This loss bore heavily upon him for some time, and he came into power with gloomy feelings. He reached the national capital early in February, in a plain carriage.

The events of his administration we have given in another place, and to those pages the reader is referred for the history of eight years of his life. In 1832 he was re-elected to the presidency; and at the close of his second term, in March, 1837, having published a farewell address to the people of the United States, he retired to his favorite residence, at the Hermitage, in Tennessee, where he passed the remnant of his days generally a quiet, but not disinterested spectator of public events. He was a member of the presbyterian church, and religious faith and confi dence appear to have soothed and cheered all the latter period of his life For the last year or two of his life he was infirm of body, but retained his mental faculties undiminished up to the hour of his decease, which took place on the 8th of June, 1845. His countrymen throughout the United States joined in testimonials of respect to his memory. He left no blood relatives, and his estate was bequeathed to members of the Donelson family, who were the relations of Mrs. Jackson.

The violence of political strife will long confuse men's judgment of the character and abilities of General Jackson; but all will accord to him the praise of great firmness, energy, decision, and disinterestedness; of remarkable military skill, and ardent patriotism. With regard to his qualifications and services as a statesman, his countrymen have been and are divided in opinion. It is, perhaps, not yet time to speak decisively on this point, but it must be left for the impartial verdict of posterity.

The personal appearance and private character of General Jackson are thus described by his friend and biographer, Mr. Eaton, previous to his election to the presidency: "In the person of General Jackson is perceived nothing of the robust and elegant. He is six feet and an inch high, remarkably straight and spare, and weighs not more than one hundred and forty-five pounds. His conformation appears to disqualify him for hardship; yet, accustomed to it from early life, few are capable of enduring fatigue to the same extent, or with less injury. His dark blue eyes, with brows arched and slightly projecting, possess a marked expression; but when from any cause excited, they sparkle with peculiar lustre and penetration. In his manners he is pleasing-in his address commanding; while his countenance, marked with firmness and decision, beams with a strength and intelligence that strikes at first sight. In his deportment there is nothing repulsive. Easy, affable, and familiar, he is open and accessible to all. Influenced by the belief that merit should constitute the only difference in men, his attention is equally bestowed on honest poverty as on titled consequence. His moral character is without reproach; and by those who know him most intimately he is most esteemed. Benevolence in him is a prominent virtue. He was never known to pass distress without seeking to assist and to relieve it.”

JACKSON'S

ADDRESSES AND MESSAGES.

INAUGURAL ADDRESS..

Fellow-Citizens :

MARCH 4, 1829.

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 dif ferences 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 tha. 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 favor ed; 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 to 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 dock-yards; 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 agis. 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 toward 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 of appointment, and have placed or continued power in unfaithful or incompetent hands.

In the performance of a task thus generally delineated, I shall endeavor to select men whose diligence and talents will insure, in their respective stations, able and faithful co-operation-depending for the advancement of the public service, more on the integrity and zeal of the public officers,

than on their numbers.