After the capture of Washington city, and the resignation of General Armstrong, Mr. Monroe was appointed to the war department, without, however, resigning as secretary of state. In this station he exhibited a remarkable energy and boldness of character. He found the treasury exhausted, and the public credit prostrated; while the enemy, relieved from his war with France, was preparing to turn his numerous armies, flushed with victory over the legions of Napoleon, against the United States. The first duty of the secretary of war was to prepare for the new campaign, and this he was enabled to do by the now excited spirit of the country. The army already authorized by acts of Congress, if the regiments were full, numbered 60,000 men, which Mr. Monroe proposed to increase by the addition of 40,000, and to levy new recruits by draughting from the whole mass of able-bodied men in the United States. This proposition, which was considered an imitation of the French mode of conscription long practised by Napoleon, and would inevitably have lost him the favor of the people, he felt it to be his duty to make, and had intended, in case of the continuance of the war, to withdraw his name from the presidential canTo two or three friends he disclosed his feelings on this occasion, in confidence, and had authorized them to publish his intention of declining a nomination as successor to Mr. Madison, when the conclusion of peace rendered the increase of the army unnecessary, and therefore removed the objections to his being a candidate for president.

vass.

Toward the end of the year 1814, Mr. Monroe's attention, as secretary of war, was most urgently called to the defence of New Orleans, against which a powerful fleet and army had been despatched. To raise the funds for the defence of this important point, Mr. Monroe was compelled to pledge his private credit, as subsidiary to that of the government, which then was at a low ebb. By this act of devotion he was enabled to furnish the necessary supplies; New Orleans was successfully defended, and the entire defeat of the British army under General Packenham terminated the war in a manner honorable to the American arms.

A new series of duties now awaited Mr. Monroe. Upon the conclusion of peace he resumed his station in the department of state, and as the longtried friend and confidential adviser of Mr. Madison, he was called to the arduous task of deciding upon those measures which aimed at the re-establishment of the public credit, and to place the country in a better state of preparation, in case she should be called upon again to assert her rights by an appeal to arms. Our foreign relations, which had been partially suspended during the war, were to be renewed, and the domestic policy of the United States required to be modified so as to adapt it to the great changes which had been produced by the general pacification of Europe. In the performance of the arduous duties imposed upon him at this period, Mr. Monroe had the good fortune to be sustained by public opinion, and with that auxiliary he lent his zealous co-operation to Mr. Madison in es

tablishing the system of internal policy, adopted after the close of the war, and continued it with new and enlarged features after his election as president of the United States, in 1817.

In 1816, Mr. Monroe received the nomination of the democratic party, through their representatives in Congress, for president of the United States. With that party he had uniformly acted, under the various names of anti-federal, democratic, and republican, and by them was he elected, in 1816, chief magistrate of the nation, to succeed Mr. Madison, on the 4th of March, 1817. Previous to entering on the duties of his high office, he was advised by General Jackson, with whom he was on the most friendly terms, to disregard former party divisions in the formation of his cabinet, and to use his influence and power to destroy party spirit, by appointing the best men to office, without regard to their political preferences. This course Mr. Monroe declined to pursue, confining his appointments generally, as did his predecessors Jefferson and Madison, to those who professed his own political faith, and excluding federalists from office, with but few exceptions.

In other respects the policy of Mr. Monroe was liberal and satisfactory to men of all parties, excepting, perhaps, the ardent supporters of a system of internal improvements, who regretted the adherence of the president to a strict construction of the constitution on that subject. On many points the policy of Mr. Monroe's administration resembled that of the federal school established in the early stages of the government under the auspices of Washington and Hamilton. The perfecting of the establishment of a national bank, of the plan for the gradual discharge of the public debt, of the system of fortifying the coast and increasing the navy, and of encouraging by adequate protection the manufactures and arts of the country, formed essential parts of the policy referred to, adopted at the close of Mr. Madison's administration, and continued by that of Mr. Monroe. To these measures Mr. Monroe, finally, after long deliberation, and with the entire concurrence of his whole cabinet, sanctioned by repeated demonstrations of Congress, determined to add a system of internal improvement, thus yielding his own scruples to advance the interests of the nation. This was done on the 30th of April, 1824, when the act appropriating $30,000 for the survey of such routes for canals and public roads as the president might direct, received his sanction.

Among the measures which distinguished the administration of Mr. Monroe, was the negotiation of the treaty which added Florida to the Uniten States. This cession secured to the nation all the territory north of Mexico; and it was negotiated with great propriety by one who had borne so conspicuous a part in the acquisition of Louisiana.

In 1817 the president made a tour through a large portion of the northern and middle states, which elicited a general expression of kindness, respect, and courtesy from the people.

Mr. Monroe was re-elected president in 1820, with more unanimity than any one since Washington, receiving every vote of the electoral colleges of the United States, except one, and ended his career in the service of the federal government on the 3d of March, 1825. He then retired to his residence in Loudon county, Virginia, where he was shortly after appointed a county magistrate, the duties of which office he continued to discharge until his departure for the city of New York. He was also appointed curator of the university of Virginia; and in 1830, having been elected a member of the convention called to revise the constitution of that state, he was unanimously chosen to preside over its deliberations. Before the close of its labors, however, he was compelled by severe indisposition to retire, and in the succeeding summer removed to New York, to take up his abode with his son-in-law, Mr. Samuel L. Gouverneur. There he remained, surrounded by filial solicitude and tenderness, until, on the fifty-fifth anniversary of the nation's birth (July 4, 1831), he terminated his earthly career, in the 72d year of his age; furnishing another striking coincidence, which, as in the instance of the simultaneous deaths of Adams and Jefferson, on the same day, five years previous, afforded occasion for grave reflection, and seemed pregnant with some mysterious moral lesson to a nation whose attention was thus forcibly directed to the act which, while it gave it birth as an independent community, also served to mark the commencement of a new era in the history of the world.

Mr. Monroe left only two children, both daughters, one the widow of George Hay, Esq., of Richmond, the other the wife of Samuel L. Gouverneur, Esq., of New York. Mrs. Monroe died but a short time before her venerable husband.

Though in the course of his life he had received from the public treasury, for his services, $358,000, he retired from office deeply in debt. He was, however, relieved at last by the adjustment by Congress of his claims, founded chiefly on the disbursements made during the war.

In his personal appearance Mr. Monroe was tall and well formed, being about six feet in stature, with light complexion, and blue eyes. His countenance had no indications of superior intellect, but an honesty and firmness of purpose which commanded respect, and gained favor and 'friendship. He was laborious and industrious, and doubtless compensated in some degree by diligence, for slowness of thought and want of imagination. His talents, however, were respectable, and he was a fine specimen of the old school of Virginia gentlemen, generous, hospitable, and devoted to his country, which he did not hesitate to serve to the utmost of his ability, through a long life, and his career was highly honorable, useful, and worthy of admiration.

MONROE'S

ADDRESSES AND
AND MESSAGES.

INAUGURAL ADDRESS.

MARCH 5, 1817.

I SHOULD be destitute of feeling if I was not deeply affected by the strong proof which my fellow-citizens have given me of their confidence, in calling me to the high office whose functions I am about to assume. As the expression of their good opinion of my conduct in the public service, I derive from it a gratification which those who are conscious of having done all that they could to merit it can alone feel. My sensibility is increased by a just estimate of the importance of the trust, and of the nature and extent of its duties, with the proper discharge of which the highest interests of a great and free people are intimately connected. Conscious of my own deficiency, I can not enter on these duties without great anxiety for the result. From a just responsibility I will never shrink; calculating with confidence, that in my best efforts to promote the public welfare, my motives will always be duly appreciated, and my conduct be viewed with that candor and indulgence which I have experienced in other stations.

In commencing the duties of the chief executive office, it has been the practice of the distinguished men who have gone before me to explain the principles which would govern them in their respective administrations. In following their venerated example, my attention is naturally drawn to the great causes which have contributed in a principal degree to produce the present happy condition of the United States. They will best explain the nature of our duties, and shed much light on the policy which ought to be pursued in future.

From the commencement of our revolution to the present day, almost forty years have elapsed, and from the establishment of this constitution twenty-eight. Through this whole term, the government has been what may emphatically be called, self-government; and what has been the effect? To whatever object we turn our attention, whether it relates to our foreign or domestic concerns, we find abundant cause to felicitate ourselves in the excellence of our institutions. During a period fraught with difficulties, and marked by very extraordinary events, the United States have flourished beyond example. Their citizens individually have been happy, and the nation prosperous.

Under this constitution, our commerce has been wisely regulated with foreign nations and between the states; new states have been admitted

into our Union; our territory has been enlarged by fair and honorable treaty, and with great advantage to the original states; the states respectively protected by the national government, under a mild parental system, against foreign dangers, and enjoying within their separate spheres, by a wise partition of power, a just proportion of the sovereignty, have improved their police, extended their settlements, and attained a strength and maturity which are the best proofs of wholesome laws well administered. And if we look to the condition of individuals, what a proud spectacle does it exhibit! On whom has oppression fallen in any quarter of our Union? Who has been deprived of any right of person or property? Who restrained from offering his vows, in the mode which he prefers, to the Divine Author of his being? It is well known that all these blessings have been enjoyed in their fullest extent; and I add, with peculiar satisfaction, that there has been no example of a capital punishment being inflicted on any one for the crime of high treason.

Some who might admit the competency of our government to these beneficent duties, might doubt it in trials which put to the test its strength and efficiency as a member of the great community of nations. Here, too, experience has afforded us the most satisfactory proof in its favor. Just as this constitution was put into action, several of the principal states of Europe had become much agitated, and some of them seriously convulsed. Destructive wars ensued, which have of late only been terminated. In the course of these conflicts, the United States received great injury from several of the parties. It was their interest to stand aloof from the contest, to demand justice from the party committing the injury, and to cultivate by a fair and honorable conduct the friendship of all. War became at length inevitable, and the result has shown that our government is equal to that, the greatest of trials, under the most unfavorable circumstances. Of the virtue of the people, and of the heroic exploits of the army, the navy, and the militia, I need not speak.

Such, then, is the happy government under which we live; a government adequate to every purpose for which the social compact is formed; a government elective in all its branches, under which every citizen may by his merit obtain the highest trust recognised by the constitution; which contains within it no cause of discord; none to put at variance one portion of the community with another; a government which protects every citizen in the full enjoyment of his rights, and is able to protect the nation against injustice from foreign powers.

Other considerations of the highest importance admonish us to cherish our Union, and to cling to the government which supports it. Fortunate as we are in our political institutions, we have not been less so in other circumstances on which our prosperity and happiness essentially depend. Situated within the temperate zone, and extending through many degrees of latitude along the Atlantic, the United States enjoy all the varieties of climate, and every production incident to that portion of the globe. Penetrating, internally, to the great lakes and beyond the sources of the great rivers which communicate through our whole interior, no country was ever happier with respect to its domain. Blessed too with a fertile soil, our produce has always been very abundant, leaving, even in years the least favorable, a surplus for the wants of our fellow-men in other countries. Such is our peculiar felicity, that there is not a part of our Union that is not particularly interested in preserving it. The great agricultural interest of the nation prospers under its protection. Local interests are not