if a veneration for the religion of a people, who profess and call themselves Christians, and a fixed resolution to consider a decent respect for Christianity among the best recommendations for the public service, can enable me, in any degree, to comply with your wishes, it shall be my strenuous endeavor that this sagacious injunction of the two Houses shall not be without effect. With this great example before me; with the sense and spirit, the faith and honor, the duty and interest of the same American people, pledged to support the Constitution of the United States, I entertain no doubt of its continuance in all its energy; and my mind is prepared, without hesitation, to lay myself under the most solemn obligations to support it to the utmost of my power. And may that Being who is supreme over all, the patron of order, the fountain of justice, and the protector, in all ages of the world, of virtuous liberty, continue his blessing upon this nation and its governments, and give it all possible success and duration, consistent with the ends of his providence. "AFTER WASHINGTON and FRANKLIN," wrote Lord BROUGHAM, "there is no person who fills so eminent a place among the great men of America as JEFFERSON." He was, indeed, a powerful leader of men. Not as an orator, for he rarely gave personal utterance to his productions, but as a writer. With a penetrating and logical intellect, educated at the William and Mary College of Virginia, a profound student of social and political developments ancient and modern, JEFFERSON was sent to the House of Burgesses at the age of twenty-six (1769); in 1775 was member of the Continental Congress and penned the Declaration of Independence "title-deed of American liberties," as WEBSTER called it. He was made Governor of Virginia in 1779, and after the establishment of the new Constitution was Ambassador to France, succeeding FRANKLIN, was WASHINGTON'S Secretary of State, and Vice-President under the presidency of JOHN ADAMS, whom he succeeded as President, serving two terms. JEFFERSON was as democratic in feeling and opinion as HAMILTON was aristocratic, and the two men frequently clashed, although not in enmity. He opposed the new Constitution as too centralized, and was the natural head of the Anti-Federalists, ́ the party that was later called Republican, and after that Democratic, - the party originally demanding strict construction of the Constitution, lest from being federal it should become national. His many state papers were singularly lucid and strong witness his First Inaugural Address herein (March 4, 1801); his "Notes on Virginia," describing the State and its resources, with exposition of Republican ideas, was highly praised, especially in France; he was a great promoter of education and founded the University of Virginia, while his opposition to negro slavery and his ardent advocacy of religious liberty were in advance of his times. He not only was a great political leader, but he still is - among those who really cherish the principles rather than the mere name of "Jeffersonian Democracy." FIRST INAUGURAL ADDRESS FRIENDS AND FELLOW-CITIZENS: Called upon to undertake the duties of the first executive office of our country, I avail myself of the presence of that portion of my fellow-citizens which is here assembled, to express my grateful thanks for the favor with which they have been pleased to look toward me, to declare a sincere consciousness, that the task is above my talents, and that I approach it with those anxious and awful presentiments, which the greatness of the charge, and the weakness of my powers, so justly inspire. A rising nation, spread over a wide and fruitful land, traversing all the seas with the rich productions of their industry, engaged in commerce with nations who feel power and forget right, advancing rapidly to destinies beyond the reach of mortal eye; when I contemplate these transcendent objects, and see the honor, the happiness, and the hopes of this beloved country committed to the issue and the auspices of this day, I shrink from the contemplation, and humble myself before the magnitude of the undertaking. Utterly, indeed, should I despair, did not the presence of many, whom I see here, remind me, that, in the other high authorities provided by our Constitution, I shall find resources of wisdom, of virtue, and of zeal, on which to rely under all difficulties. To you, then, gentlemen, who are charged with the sovereign functions of legislation, and to those associated with you, I look with encouragement for that guidance and support which may enable us to steer with safety the vessel in which we are all embarked, amidst the conflicting elements of a troubled world. During the contest of opinion through which we have passed, the animation of discussions and of exertions has sometimes worn an aspect which might impose on strangers unused to think freely, and to speak and to write what they think; but this being now decided by the voice of the nation, announced according to the rules of the Constitution, all will of course arrange themselves under the will of the law, and unite in common efforts for the common good. All too will bear in mind this sacred principle, that though the will of the majority is in all cases to prevail, that will, to be rightful, must be reasonable; that the minority possess their equal rights, which equal laws must protect, and to violate which would be oppression. Let us then, fellow-citizens, unite with one heart and one mind, let us restore to social intercourse that harmony and affection without which liberty and even life itself are but dreary things. And let us reflect, that having banished from our land that religious intolerance under which |