were not only members of that congress which declared the United States free and independent, but both were of that committee which framed that monumental record of freemen against tyrants-the Declaration of Independence.

After peace had taken place, both were appointed to foreign embassies; Mr. Jefferson at Paris, and Mr. Adams, as has been before observed, at London. Upon their return, after the adoption of the federal constitution by the several states, they were both called to fill offices of the greatest responsibility under the new government; the one as VicePresident of the United States, the other as Secretary of State under General Washington. While in these situations, they found themselves to be, in public opinion, rivals to each other; each being at the head of one of the two great parties, which, during this period, first appeared, and which have, ever since, so much divided and agitated the people of the United States. The struggle finally terminated, as has already been mentioned, in the election of Mr. Jefferson to the presidency, in 1801. In 1809, Mr. Jefferson retired from public office, and became, like President Adams, a private citizen. After this period, both being removed from the further troubles and perplexities of public life, a mutual correspondence, by letter, was commenced between them. Few, if any productions, have been so eagerly sought after and read, as those which were permitted to be published. It would appear, from these publications, that, although nominally hostile to each other, in a public point of view, they were, nevertheless, personally friendly; and that they were placed in opposition to each other, not from any difference of private opinion, as regarded the great interests of the country, but from the zeal and violence of party spirit, which then pervaded the country.

The spectacle of two men, both of whom had held the highest offices in the gift of the only free government on earth, and who had, for so many years, been in political hostility to each other, now retired to the peaceful shades of private life, and engaged, at the advanced ages of eighty years, in a correspondence, distinguished for frankness, friendship and intellect, was indeed interesting. The sentiments interchanged on the various subjects of their letters, were such as might have been expected from men so distinguished as they were, for sound principles, splendid talents, and public services.

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President Adams, for the last few years, has suffered considerably from bodily infirmity, though his mental faculties appear to remain wholly unimpaired. Owing to a defect in his eye sight, he has been under the necessity of employing an amanuensis, to reduce his thoughts to writing; and, as he observed in one of his letters, he imposes upon his friends, as they call upon him, the task of reading aloud some favourite author.

It has fallen to the lot of this illustrious individual to witness what has rarely happened to any man before. He has lived to see his country emancipated from the thraldom of tyranny and oppression, in the accomplishment of which, few, if any, took a more active or important part; he has been the chief magistrate of that country, after her independence was secured; and now lives to see his son occupying the same exalted station which, five-and-twenty years ago, was held by himself-the Presidency of the United Sates.

Such are the brief outlines of the life of President Adams, who, in the evening of his days, is now enjoying the reward of a long life, devoted to the greatest of all earthly objectsthe liberty and happiness of mankind.

THOMAS JEFFERSON, ESQ.

Third President of the United States.

MR. JEFFERSON was born in Virginia. He was educated in his native land, from which he was never absent till its service demanded his residence at the Court of Paris, whither he was sent as an envoy.

Mr. Jefferson is tall, and of slender make, fresh complexion, clear penetrating eyes, hair inclining to red, and of very modest and affable deportment. He was, professionally, bred a lawyer, though born to an affluent fortune; yet the public demand for the exercise of his talents in a higher sphere, left him but little time to display his native eloquence as a barrister. His country called him forward at a

very early period.

In private life, in his younger days, he was, in every circle, its ornament, instructor and pride. Close application had supplied the want of many European advantages. In the auxiliary accomplishments of drawing, geometry, geography, astronomy, natural philosophy, and music, he attained extensive knowledge, and was considered a proficient in them.

At an early age he married a mild and amiable wife, the daughter of a Mr. Wayles, an eminent counsellor in Virginia, whose premature death deprived him of an affectionate partner. The death of this lady devolved on him a more weighty care in the education of her two lovely daughters.

It could not be expected that a man of such qualifications, in a country which stood so much in need of them, could be suffered longer to remain in philosophic retirement, and the Fote of his constituents claimed his labours in the field of jurisprudence. In the Legislature of Virginia he became a distinguished and useful member, and has left many traces on record of sufficient importance to indicate his greatness. During the revolutionary period, we find him advancing to a still more dignified station; he was one of those in whose hands the people thought fit to confide the most material events of their political existence and future happiness. He was honoured with the public confidence during its most important struggles, and sat two years in the famous congress which brought about the revolution. In this congress

he sustained a character which will stand dignified to the end of time.

A greater example of unlimited confidence than was evinced in the address of his constituents, on the awful occasion of this delegation, will, probably, never be recorded in history. "You assert that there is a fixed determination to invade our rights and privileges; we own that we do not see this clearly, but since you assure us that it is so, we believe the fact. We are about to take a very dangerous step, but we confide in you, and are ready to support you in every measure you shall think proper to adopt."

The following is a beautiful and faithful picture, drawn by a distinguished hand, of his manly efforts during the memorable period of which we are speaking:

They must be very ignorant of the history of America who know not that Mr. Jefferson shared with George Washington, Franklin, John Adams, Mr. Jay, and a few others, the toils and dangers of the revolution in all its different stages; that in the famous congress which guided and consolidated it, he displayed a boldness and firmness of character, a fund of talents and knowledge, and a steadiness of principles, which will hand down his name to posterity with glory, and assure to him forever the respect and gratitude of all the friends of liberty. It was he, who, in the famous congress, so respectable and so much respected, in that congress, ever inaccessible to the seduction, fear, and apparent weakness of the people-who jointly with Mr. Lee, another deputy of Virginia, proposed the declaration of independence. It was he, who, supported principally by John Adams, pressed the deliberation on the subject, and carried it, bearing down the wary prudence of some of his colleagues, possessed of an equal share of patriotism, but of less courage. It was he, who was charged with drawing up this master-piece of dig nified wisdom and patriotic pride. It was he, who, being afterwards appointed Governor of Virginia, at the period of the invasion of Arnold and Cornwallis, acquired a peculiar claim on the gratitude of his fellow-citizens. It was he, who, as the first Ambassador of the United States in France, filled, at that momentous epocha, that distinguished post to the satisfaction of both nations. In fine, it was he, who, as Secretary of State in 1792, when the ridiculous and disorganizing pretensions of Mr. Genet, and the lofty arrogance of the British Minister, endeavoured alternately to abuse the political weakness of the United States, induced his govern

ment to speak a noble and independent language, which would have done credit to the most formidable power. The long correspondence carried on with these two designing agents, would, from its just, profound and able reasoning, be alone sufficient to confer on its author the reputation of an accomplished Statesman."

In 1780-1, he was Governor of Virginia, and the successor of Patrick Henry. In 1781, he wrote his notes on Virginia. These were not intended for the press, yet they have found their way into print. Can any man say that he has cause to be ashamed of the principles he has avowed there ? Let his book be read, it will bear witness for the man.

From the year 1782-3, till March 1786, he was a member of congress, when he was appointed Ambassador to the Court of Versailles, where he evinced great diplomatic talents. Mr. Jefferson remained in this situation until the year 1789, when he returned from France, and the federal constitution having been adopted by the unanimous consent of the several sovereign states, he was appointed Secretary of State to the Federal Government.

In this eminent capacity, he was called on to perform many arduous duties of office; and the difficulty of performing these in a safe and satisfactory manner, was greatly enhanced by the consideration of pursuing an unbeaten path in the organization of a new-born system.

We come now to one of the most important periods in the history of commerce: the period at which the ambassador of the King of England became a resident at the Court of America, and the citizen minister of the French Republic, assailed the firmness of her neutral principles. The burthen of the day fell on the shoulders of Mr. Jefferson. We need not say with what ability he sustained the shock. Suffice it to say, that with both nations the correspondence was voluminous and intricate, circumstances which render a detail of it, in the body of this work, impossible. It is apprehended to be, nevertheless, impartial on the side of Mr. Jefferson, and is important on the side of truth, against that insidious intrigue which dares impute to him an unworthy attachment.

If we were to follow him through the labyrinth of diplomatic intrigue, wherein the then existing rulers of France had employed their chosen corps in arming American citizens, in disorganising the government of the United States, and in endeavours to involve her in the war, we shall find