minister the government in the high office with which you twice honored me. Knowing that the path of freedom is continually beset by enemies, who often assume the disguise of friends, I have devoted the last hours of my public life to warn you of the dangers. The progress of the United States, under our free and happy institutions, has surpassed the most sanguine hopes of the founders of the republic. Our growth has been rapid beyond all former example, in numbers, in wealth, in knowledge, and all the useful arts which contribute to the comforts and convenience of man; and from the earliest ages of history to the present day, there never have been thirteen millions of people associated together in one political body who enjoyed so much freedom and happiness as the people of these United States. You have no longer any cause to fear danger from abroad; your strength and power are well known throughout the civilized world, as well as the high and gallant bearing of your sons. It is from within, among yourselves, from cupidity, from corruption, from disappointed ambition, and inordinate thirst for power, that factions will be formed and liberty endangered. It is against such designs, whatever disguise the actors may assume, that you have especially to guard yourselves. You have the highest of human trusts committed to your care. Providence has showered on this favored land blessings without number, and has chosen you as the guardians of freedom, to preserve it for the benefit of the human race. May He, who holds in his hands the destinies of nations, make you worthy of the favors he has bestowed, and enable you, with pure hearts, and pure hands, and sleepless vigilance, to guard and defend, to the end of time, the great charge he has committed to your keeping.

My own race is nearly run; advanced age and failing health warn me that before long I must pass beyond the reach of human events, and cease to feel the vicissitudes of human affairs. I thank God that my life has been spent in a land of liberty, and that he has given me a heart to love my country with the affection of a son. And filled with gratitude for your constant and unwavering kindness, I bid you a last and affectionate farewell.

ADMINISTRATON OF JACKSON.

On the fourth of March, 1829, General Andrew Jackson entered on his duties as president of the United States. At twelve o'clock of that day, the senate, which had been convened by his predecessor, Mr. Adams, adjourned, after a session of one hour, during which the president elect entered the senate-chamber, attended by the marshal of the district and the committee of arrangements. He had been escorted to the capitol, from Gadsby's hotel, by a few of the surviving officers and soldiers of the revolution, and made the following reply to an address delivered to him at the hotel :

"RESPECTED FRIENDS: Your affectionate address awakens sentiments and recollections which I feel with sincerity, and cherish with pride. To have around my person, at the moment of undertaking the most solemn of all duties to my country, the companions of the immortal Washington, will afford me satisfaction and grateful encouragement. That by my best exertions I shall be able to exhibit more than an imitation of his labors, a sense of my own imperfections, and the reverence I entertain for his virtues, forbid me to hope.

"To you, respected friends, the survivors of that heroic band who followed him so long and so valiantly in the path of glory, I offer my sincere thanks, and to Heaven my prayers, that your remaining years may be as happy as your toils and your lives have been illustrious."

The chief-justice of the United States, and associate judges of the supreme court, entered the senate-chamber soon after the president, and occupied the seats assigned for them, on the right of the president's chair. The foreign ministers and their suites, in their splendid official costumes, occupied seats on the left of the president's chair. A large number of ladies were present. The western gallery was reserved for members of the house of representatives.

After the adjournment of the senate, about noon, a procession was formed to the eastern portico of the capitol, where, in the presence of an immense concourse of spectators, the president delivered his inaugural address; and having concluded it, the oath to support the constitution was administered to him by Chief-Justice Marshall.

Salutes were fired by two companies of artillery, stationed in the vicinity of the capitol, which were repeated at the forts, and by detachments of artillery on the plains. When the president retired, the procession was re-formed, and he was conducted to the presidential mansion. He here received the salutations of a vast number of persons, who came to congratulate him upon his induction to the presidency. The day was serene and mild, and every way favorable to the wishes of those who had come from a distance to witness the ceremony of the inauguration. General Jackson did not call upon President Adams, and the ex-president was not present at the installation of President Jackson.*

The members of Mr. Adams's cabinet having resigned, President Jackson, immediately after his inauguration, nominated to the senate the following gentlemen for heads of the respective departments, who were promptly confirmed, viz.: Martin Van Buren, of New York, secretary of state; Samuel D. Ingham, of Pennsylvania, secretary of the treasury; John H. Eaton, of Tennessee, secretary of war; John Branch, of North Carolina, secretary of the navy; John M'Pherson Berrien, of Georgia, attorney-general. It was determined to introduce the postmaster-general into the cabinet; the incumbent of that office, John M'Lean, was appointed associate justice of the supreme court, and William T. Barry, of Kentucky, received the appointment of postmaster-general. Certain duties in the department of state requiring immediate attention on the accession of a new president, James A. Hamilton, of New York, son of the late General Alexander Hamilton, was charged temporarily with the duties of secretary of state; until Mr. Van Buren could close his business as governor of New York, on the duties of which office he had only entered on the 1st of January, 1829.

The secretaries of state and the navy, and the attorney-general, had been leading supporters of Mr. Crawford, in the presidential contest-of 1824. Mr. Ingham was selected through the influence of the vice-president, Mr. Calhoun, and Messrs. Eaton and Barry were among the original supporters of General Jackson.

The cabinet was now constituted, and, after confirming the nomination of some active partisans to diplomatic posts and to lucrative stations in the land office, customhouse, and navy, the senate adjourned on the 17th of March, the executive having informed that body that he had no further business to lay before it. The promised work of reform now commenced in good earnest. Before the inauguration, the capital had been thronged with political partisans, chiefly from the eastern, middle, and western states, all clamorous for some reward for their electioneering services during the canvass. It had been distinctly avowed by the most prominent organs of the successful party, that the president would be urged to reward his friends and punish his enemies; it was expected, therefore, that Niles's Register.

he would make a prompt and general removal of his opponents from office, and, by the appointment of his friends, secure the ascendency of his party. This expectation was not destined to disappointment. Scarcely had the senate adjourned, when a general system of removal from office was entered upon, with the view of rewarding those who had been instrumental in promoting the president's election.

Never before had so total a change been made in the public offices. Formerly it had been confined to those prominent places which constitute the stakes for which the game of politics is so often played. The revolution extended further now, and men too humble to be claimed by any party were removed from situations upon which they depended for a livelihood, to make room for active partisans. Availing himself of the right of the executive to fill vacancies occurring in the recess, the president, shortly after the adjournment of the senate, removed the principal officers of the treasury, the marshals and district attorneys in most of the eastern, middle, and western states, the revenue-officers of the chief Atlantic ports, the greater part of the receivers and registers in the land-office; and effected an equally radical change in the diplomatic corps.

The number of appointments made by the president during the recess was one hundred and seventy-six, principally in consequence of removals of political opponents from office. During General Washington's administration there were nine removals; of these one was a defaulter. In John Adams's administration of four years there were ten removals; one of these was a defaulter. In Jefferson's, of eight years, there were thirtynine. In James Madison's, of eight years, there were five removals, of which three were defaulters. In James Monroe's, of eight years, there were nine removals, of which six were for cause. In John Quincy Adams's, of four years, there were two removals; both for cause. Total removals by six presidents, seventy-four.

As these removals by President Jackson were invariably made to make room for political adherents, and as with some exceptions no act of official delinquency was proved against the former incumbents, the conduct of the executive was subjected to severe animadversions. He was charged with usurping an authority not conferred by the constitution, which it was contended only gave him the right to fill vacancies, either occasionally occurring, or caused by some official misconduct; and even if acting within the limits of his constitutional prerogative, it was a proscription for opinion's sake, contrary to the spirit of our institutions, and without a precedent in the history of the country. On the other hand, it was contended that the executive was solely invested with the right of removal; that it was a discretionary right, for the exercise of which he was responsible solely to the nation; that that power was given to enable him not only to remove incumbents, for delinquency or incapacity, but with the view of reforming the administration of the government, and introducing officers

of greater efficiency or sounder principles into its various departments. Occasion was also taken, owing to the defalcation of a few of those removed, to assert the necessity of reform, and unsparing efforts were made to create an impression on the public mind of the necessity of a general removal of the officers of the federal government.

Some abuses no doubt existed, and one instance of fraud and defalcation on the part of an auditor high in the confidence of the late administration, gave a temporary popularity to this policy; but when it was discovered, after a vigorous scrutiny, that defalcations to the amount of a few thousand dollars only were detected, and that in no instance were these fastened upon officers appointed by Mr. Adams, a reaction took place in the public feeling.

The manner of distributing the executive patronage was also strongly contrasted with the professions of General Jackson shortly before the election. He had then earnestly inculcated the propriety of a chief magistrate acting for the good of the whole and not a part of the community, and devoting himself to exterminate party spirit; and among the most reprehensible modes of bestowing appointments, he had designated that of conferring offices on members of Congress. He regarded this as aiming so directly at the independence and purity of the legislature, that he proposed an amendment of the constitution, prohibiting the appointment of members of Congress to any office, except judicial, during the term for which they were elected and two years thereafter. It was therefore cause of general surprise to find him within the first year of his administration conferring a greater number of offices upon members of Congress than any of his predecessors had done, during their whole term of service.*

A general change took place in the postoffice department. Under the superintendence of Mr. M'Lean, this department had been distinguished for its efficiency and order, and as its functions operated directly upon the private business of individuals, that officer had acquired great and deserved popularity from the manner in which its duties were discharged. He had himself been favorable to the election of General Jackson, and his continuance in an office of so much influence and patronage had been deemed an instance of magnanimity on the part of Mr. Adams, and a proof of his determination not to use the patronage of the government for party purposes.

The transfer of that officer to the bench of the supreme court, and the introduction of his successor, Mr. Barry, into the cabinet, were regarded as indications of an intention to introduce the proscriptive system into the postoffice, and the numerous removals which took place shortly after his appointment verified the apprehensions of the community. By the report of the postmaster-general, in answer to a resolution of the senate, it ap• American Annual Register.