these were secrets he would keep to himself; and that if elected President, it should be without solicitation and intrigue on his part, and that he would go into office untrammelled, and at liberty to select the best men to fill the offices of the government.

Mr. Buchanan then asked permission to repeat this answer to any person he thought proper, which was granted, and here the conversation ended.

Mr. B. further stated, that he called on Gen. Jackson solely as his friend, and upon his own responsibility, and not as an agent for Mr. Clay, or any other person ; that he had never been a friend of Mr. Clay during the presidential contest; and that he had not the most distant idea that Gen. Jack. son believed, or suspected, that he came on behalf of Mr. Clay, or of his friends, until the publication of the letter, making that accusation. Had he supposed that such an im. pression was entertained by Gen. Jackson, he should have hastened to undeceive him; but, after the conversation on the 30th of De. cember, the subject was never again alluded to, or mentioned by Gen. Jackson, either by letter or in conversation with Mr. Bucha

half of the friends of Mr. Clay, the cry of bargain and corruption was still kept up, and bold assertion and strong charges were substituted for proof. In the mean time, the accused parties were compelled by their stations to abstain from answering accusations, which were made without the authority of a name, and no evidence, from the very nature of the case, could be adduced to prove a negative.

At length, however, the only testimony which could, under such circumstances, be produced, was collected and laid before the public.

A circular letter was addressed to the western members, (for they alone were accused of having misrepresented their constituents,) who voted for Mr Adams in the election by congress, in 1825, requesting to know, whether there was any foundation for the charge in the letter of Gen. Jackson.

To this circular their replies were equally clear and satisfactory. They all denied, (with the exception of Mr. Cook, who was deceased, but whose preference for Mr. Adams had always been so decided, as to render it unnecessary for him to explain his vote,) having been conusant of any proposition made by Mr. Clay or his friends, to Gen. Jackson, or to any other person; and also explicitly disclaimed any negotiation with respect to their votes on that occasion. On

the contrary, the members from Ohio stated that they had deter. mined upon voting for Mr. Adams previous to their being informed of the determination of Mr. Clay, and without having ascertained his

views.

The members from Kentucky, who voted with Mr. Clay for Mr. Adams, expressed their ignorance of conditions of any sort having been offered by his friends to any person, on compliance with which their vote was to depend.

The members from Louisiana and Missouri coincided in these declarations, and they all professed their belief in the falsehood of the charges made against Mr. Clay, on account of his conduct on that occasion.

In addition to this testimony, Mr. Clay produced letters from individuals high in the public esteem, in different parts of the country, and among others, from La Fayette, testifying to Mr. Clay's declarations to them of his preference for Mr. Adams over Gen. Jackson; and that these declarations were made previous to his leaving his residence in Kentucky for Washington, in the fall of 1824; and that he continued to express to his intimate friends, his determination to vote for Mr. Adams, in preference to General Jackson, through the months of October, November, December and January following, until he executed that

intention on the 9th of February, 1825, in the house of representatives.

This body of testimony completely overthrew the accusation respecting a bargain, and convinced the public that in voting for Mr. Adams in the house of representatives, Mr. Clay and his friends conscientiously discharged their duty; and that they could not have voted otherwise, without gross and palpable inconsistency. The opposition to the administration, had now however become so fully matured, that it no longer needed the aliment which had first given life and vigour to it. This occurrence may, in some measure, be attributed to the conduct of the administration itself.

Following up the principle promulgated in his inaugural address, of administering the government without regard to party, Mr. Adams had only regarded in the candidates for offices, their qualifications and integrity, and had not inquired whether they were friendly or hostile to his administration.

The correctness of this proposition as an abstract principle, is unquestionable; but the propriety of its application in practice, depends entirely upon the circumstances under which the government is placed; and it is in the applica. tion of general maxims to such circumstances, that the sagacity of the statesman is developed. It is true, that it is the duty of the pre

sident of the United States, to consider himself as the head of the nation, and not as the leader of a party; and in the exercise of his official duties, he ought to assuage the bitterness of political divisions, and to reconcile the discontented to the existing administration; but it is no less his duty, to preserve in the hands of those of the same political principles, enough of power to secure their ascendancy, and to render their policy triumphant. No doctrine of political toleration requires a prostration of the party in power at the feet of the minority. Such, however, was the effect of the policy adopted by the president, in his selection of public officers. From an over anxiety to avoid the appearance of rewarding political partisans, he conferred such offices as became vacant upon those, who either used the influence acquired from their stations against the go. vernment; or who sought, by a cold neutrality, to conciliate the es. teem of its inveterate opponents. This policy of neglecting its friends, (for, from its frequency, it was ge. nerally regarded as its principle of action,) was sometimes accidental; but more often it proceeded from the practice of weighing the recommendations of candidates, which,though always more or less to be regarded, became almost the law of the government during the late administration, from the timidity and unwillingness of its head to assume responsibility.

It is, doubtless, necessary, for the executive of the United States, in conferring patronage, to give due consideration to recommenda. tions of particular individuals, as furnishing strong evidence in behalf of their qualifications; but still, these certificates are so easily obtained, through the good nature of those signing them, or, by the importunity of friends, that they ought to be received with many allowances. Under the administration of Mr. Monroe, the undue weight attached to such testimonials, removed all responsibility from the executive; and what was still more mischievous, encouraged the members of congress to invade his prerogatives, and to insist on being consulted, in the exercise of his duties. It was therefore expected, that an effort would be made by his successor, to check a practice, pregnant with such injurious consequences. It was more confidently expected, not only from the character of the executive himself, but because, as the late contest had been, in some measure, between the personal partisans of the several candidates, and not altogether upon irreconcileable differences of principle, it was at once perceived, that if the weight of recommendations was to be the passport to public station, the friends of the other candidates would, by uniting, completely exclude the friends of the successful candidate from all pretensions to his support. This

was in fact done to a great extent, and while the opposition to the administration concealed its views, and did not fully declare its hostility; by uniting in favour of candidates lukewarm in their attachment to the federal government, it succeeded in excluding its deci. ded friends from official stations, and in filling them with persons willing to promote its views.

In this manner the influence derived from the patronage of the general government was exercised against it, rather than in its favour; and the singular spectacle was presented of an administration openly and violently opposed by those whose influence in society, and whose very means of subsistence, were dependent upon its will.

This hostile spirit also existed among many of those whom the present administration found in of fice, and who were continued in their stations by its liberality; and where it did not exist, it was created or, excited into activity by this tolerant policy, which, according to their construction, savoured of timidity.

This policy was severely reprobated by many of the friends of the administration, as suicidal in its effects, and unjust in principle; and its enemies, perceiving that it disheartened and disorganized its supporters, made every effort to promote its continuance by condemning every appointment of a friend,

as a corrupt exercise of executive patronage.

In a period of great excitement, when the attention of every elector is intensely fixed upon the measures of the government, the policy of neglecting the natural means of sustaining an administration, by surrounding it with friends in stations of honour and profit, may be more safely omitted.. The success of public measures may then with perfect propriety, be trusted to the intelligence and judgment of the community. But when the public mind is in a quiescent state, and the electors take their opinions from men in public stations and leading politicians, instead of forming them upon their own investigation: it then becomes necessary for the government; if there be anything of principle in its policy, and it be not merely a contest for office, to place those in power, who hold similar opinions on the leading questions of foreign and domestic policy.

By not adopting this obvious maxim of justice and patriotism, the administration finally succeeded, in surrounding itself with enemies instead of friends; in confirming its opponents in their hostility; in exciting the selfish passions of political adventurers into action; and in exasperating the elements of political discord, until the attention of the whole community was attracted to the disputes of parties,

whose existence, if not originating in this policy, was promoted and invigorated by it.

Notwithstanding the fierceness of these party disputes, the country rapidly advanced in prosperity and wealth, and the government steadily pursued the policy of promoting the great works of internal improvement commenced under the act of April 30, 1824, and of developing the resources, and encouraging the domestic industry of the country. The Board of Engineers created by that act, were this year employ ed in prosecuting surveys between the Potomac and the Ohio, with the view of ascertaining the practicability of connecting those streams by a canal. This survey was completed, and a report made in favour of the practicability of the plan, the cost of the canal being estimated at $22,375,000. Other routes for canals were examined in addition to those surveyed last year, viz. from the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal to Alexandriafrom the Alleghany River to the Susquehanna and Schuylkill-between the Delaware and Raritan between Barnstable and Buzzard's Bays-from Lake Memphremagog to Connecticut river-from Lake Michigan to the Wabash, and thence to White river-between the Tennessee and Coosa rivers between the Potomac and Rappahannock-from Mahoning river at Warren, to the summit level of the Ohio canal-between the Missis

.

sippi and Lake Borgne-from Taunton to Weymouth-from Lake Champlain to the Connecticut river, through Onion and White river valleys-from Lake Champlain to Lake Memphremagog-between the Neuse and North rivers-between Elizabeth river and Lockwood's Folly-and canals to connect the Chesapeake and Ohio canal with the Pennsylvania canal, and

to overcome the obstructions at the falls of the Ohio. For these canals, routes were surveyed, either in whole or in part, and routes for roads between the following points were also examined: between Washington and New Orleansfrom Baltimore to Philadelphia— from Washington to Buffalo-from Memphis Town to Little Rock in Arkansas-and for the continuation of the Cumberland road to Washington at one end, and to the capitol of Missouri at the other. The actual construction of this road was continued from Canton to Zanseville in Ohio. Other roads were also projected, and the active employment of the engineer corps in this manner, concentrated a mass of topographical information in the department at Washington, which was more than equivalent to the additional expense to the public. The face of the country was explored, its resources and capabilities developed, and the stock of useful and scientific knowledge increased.

Besides these surveys and exa