On the l'acific our commerce has much increased, and on that coast, as well as on that sea, the United States have many important stations, which require attention and protection.

"From the view above presented," the president continued, “it is manifest that the situation of the United States is, in the highest degree, prosperous and happy. There is no object which, as a people, we can desire, which we do not possess, or which is not within our reach. Blessed with governments the happiest which the world ever knew, with no distinct orders in society, or divided interests in any portion of the vast territory over which their dominion extends, we have every motive to cling together which can animate a virtuous and enlightened people. The great object is to preserve these blessings, and to hand them down to our latest posterity. Our experience ought to satisfy us that our progress, under the most correct and provident policy, will not be exempt from danger. Our institutions form an important epoch in the history of the civilized world. On their preservation, and in their utmost purity, every thing will depend. Extending as our interests do to every part of the inhabited globe, and to every sea, to which our citizens are carried by their industry and enterprise, to which they are invited by the wants of others, and have a right to go, we must either protect them in the enjoyment of their rights, or abandon them, in certain events, to waste and desolation. Our attitude is highly interesting, as relates to other powers, and particularly to our southern neighbors. We have duties to perform with respect to all, to which we must be faithful. To every kind of danger we should pay the most vigilant and unceasing attention; remove the cause where it may be practicable, and be prepared to meet it when inevitable."

Sec. 30. The second session of the eighteenth congress closed on the 3d of March, 1825, being limited by the constitution to that period. Among the most interesting subjects which occupied its attention during the session, were the occupation of the Oregon on the North West coast, and the suppression of piracy. The bill respecting the former, however, was lost in the senate; being indefinitely laid on the table; while that respecting piracy passed; which, however, does little more

than to authorize the building of ten additional ships of war.

The bill authorizing the occupation of the Oregon was passed by the house of representatives, but had previously been so amended as to provide only for a military occupation of the mouth of the river. This amendment was adopted, for the purpose of avoiding a violation of the treaty with Great Britain, which provides that the boundary line on that frontier shall remain unsettled ten years.

On the subject of piracy, the president, in a message to the senate, suggested three expedients; one, by the pursuit of the offenders to the settled, as well as unsettled, parts of the island from whence they issue; another, by reprisal on the inhabitants; and a third, by a blockade of the ports of those islands. These suggestions gave rise to a bill in the senate, which embraced the several expedients proposed in the message, and which, for some weeks, was a prominent topic of debate. The opposers of the bill contended that it introduces a new principle into the rights of nations, and that a resort to the measure proposed by it would be in effect a declaration of war with Spain. This objection was anticipated by the president, and obviated by him, on the ground that the Spanish authorities are utterly incapable of suppressing the practice in question. The discussion of the subject has led to a disclosure of facts, which, in respect to its atrocities and the numbers concerned in it, exceed even conjecture, and which have forced conviction upon all, that something, and something efficient, must speedily be done.

Sec. 31. The administration of Mr. Monroe closed on the 3d of March. During his presidency, the country enjoyed a uniform state of peace and prosperity. By his prudent management of the national affairs, both foreign and domestic, he eminently contributed to the honor and happiness of millions, and retired from office, enjoying the respect, and affection, and gratitude of all who were able duly to appreciate the blessings of having a wise ruler.

Sec. 32. The electors of a successor to Mr. Monroe having failed to make a choice. the election

On

devolved on the house of representatives. the 9th of February, 1825, that body proceeded to the discharge of this duty, when John Quincy Adams, of Massachusetts, was elected president of the United States, for the four years from and after the 4th of the ensuing March. John C. Calhoun, of South Carolina, had been chosen vicepresident, by the electoral colleges.

The subject of a successor to Mr. Monroe, was early introduced to the notice of the public, and the excitement the several parties in the United States was both fostered and of increased by the newspapers and public journals of the day. Besides Mr. Adams, Mr. Crawford, secretary of the treasury, Mr. Clay, speaker of the house of representatives, and General Jackson, a senator, were candidates for the office; each of whom had their respective friends in the country, and among the legislatures of the states, nearly all of which by a public vote declared in favor of some one of the candidates. On counting the votes of the electors, it appeared that 84 were in favor of Mr. Adams, 99 for General Jackson, 41 for Mr. Crawford, and 37 for Mr. Clay. Notwithstanding General Jackson had the greatest number of votes from the electoral colleges, the house of representatives, voting by states, elected Mr. Adams. The result of the balloting was, for Mr. Adams, 13 states; for Mr. Jackson, 7 states; for Mr. Crawford, 4 states. By the constitution, only the three highest on the list could be candidates for the office in the house of representatives. Mr. Clay therefore was not voted for; but is supposed by his influence to have determined the question in favor of Mr. Adams, in opposition to Mr. Crawford, who had been nominated by a caucus at Washington; and to General Jackson, who had received the highest vote by the electors

UNITED STATES.

PERIOD XII.

DISTINGUISHED FOR ADAMS' ADMINISTRATION.

Sec. 1. On the 4th of March, Mr. Adams, in the presence of the senate, house of representatives, heads of department, foreign ministers, and a numerous assemblage of citizens and strangers, took the oath prescribed by the constitution, and entered upon the duties of president of the United States.

On the occasion of his inauguration, Mr. Adams, in compliance with usage, delivered an address, in which he unfolded the principles by which he should be guided in the fulfilment of the duties of his office. Among other things he said, "our political creed is, without a dissenting voice that can be heard, that the will of the people is the source, and the happiness of the people the end, of all legitimate government upon earth-That the best security for the beneficence, and the best guaranty against the abuse of power, consist in the freedom, the purity, and the frequency of popular elections-That the general government of the union, and the separate governments of these states, are all sovereignties of limited powers; fellow-servants of the same masters, uncontrolled within their respective spheres, uncontrollable by encroachments upon each other-That the firmest security of peace is the preparation, during peace, of the defences of war-That a rigorous economy, and accountability of public expenditures, should guard against the aggravation, and alleviate, when possible, the burden of taxation-That the military should be kept in strict subordination to the civil power-That the freedom of the press and of religious opinion should be inviolate-That the policy

of our country is peace, and the ark of our salvation union, are articles upon which we are all agreed."

Sec. 2. On the day of Mr. Adams' induction into office, the senate was convened by the executive, for the purpose of confirming nominations to office under the new administration. Henry Clay, of Kentucky, was appointed secretary of state; Richard Rush, of Pennsylvania, secretary of the treasury; and James Barbour, of Virginia, secretary of war.

The new administration had scarcely entered upon its operations, before it was apparent that it was destined to meet with a systematic and organized opposition. Those who arrayed themselves against the administration, without reference to its measures, urged, as reasons for their hostility, that Mr. Adams' election was the result of a bargain between Mr. Clay and himself; and his election of Mr. Clay, as secretary of state, was relied upon as conclusive proof of the bargain; that he was elected against the expressed will of the people; and that congress, by not taking General Jackson, the candidate having the highest number of votes, had violated the constitution, and disobeyed their constituents.

Those who were friendly to the administration, or disposed to judge of it by its acts, replied to these objections, that Mr. Clay, as a representative, was obliged to decide between three candidates for the presidency, and that his vote was in accordance with all his previous declarations; that Mr. Crawford was virtually withdrawn from the list of candidates by his ill health, and that, in respect to the remaining two, Mr. Clay had always expressed himself decidedly in favor of the character and qualifications of Mr. Adams, which rendered it impossible for him to vote for General Jackson without the most gross inconsistency. Besides, the experience, the learning, the talents, the diplomatic skill of Mr. Adams, decidedly entitled him to the office in preference to any other candidate. As to the election of Mr. Clay to be secretary of state, this was vindicated on the ground that his situation as speaker of the house, and his long and intimate acquaintance with our national affairs, made him the most prominent candidate for that station. The refusal of this appointment by Mr. Clay, it was urged, would have argued an improper distrust of his own character and of