fusal, that the consequences which have followed would be inevitable; that the attitude assumed by the state, formed a case which was not contemplated by the existing laws of the United States, relating to the militia services; that the payment of the claims of the state, for such services, could De provided for by Congress only, and by a special law for the purpose. Having made this communication while acting in the department of war, to the governor of Massachusetts, with the sanction and under the direction of my enlightened and virtuous predecessor, it would be improper, in any view which may be taken of the subject, for me to change the ground there assumed, to withdraw this great question from the consideration of Congress, and to act on it myself. Had the executive been in error, it is entitled to censure, making a just allowance for the motive which guided it. If its conduct was correct, the ground then assumed ought to be maintained by it. It belongs to Congress alone to determine this distressing incident on just principles, with a view to the highest interests of our Union.

From the view which I have taken of the subject, I am confirmed in the opinion that Congress should now decide on the claim, and allow to the state such portions thereof as are founded on the principles laid down in the former message. If those principles are correct, as, on great consideration, I am satisfied they are, it appears to me to be just in itself, and of high importance, that the sums which may be due, in conformity therewith, should no longer be withheld from the state.

SPECIAL MESSAGE.

FEBRUARY 26, 1825.

To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States :JUST before the termination of the last session of Congress, an act, entitled, "An act concerning wrecks on the coast of Florida," which then passed, was presented to me, with many others, and approved; and, as I thought, signed; a report to that effect was then made to Congress. It appeared, however, after the adjournment, that the evidence of such approbation had not been attached to it. Whether the act may be considered in force, under such circumstances, is a point on which it belongs not to me to decide. To remove all doubts on the subject, I submit to the consideration of Congress, the propriety of passing a declaratory act to that effect.

ADMINISTRATION OF MONROE.

On the fourth of March, 1817, the president elect, James Monroe, accompanied by the vice-president elect, Daniel D. Tompkins, left the residence of the former, attended by a large concourse of citizens on horseback, and marshalled by the gentlemen appointed to that duty, and proceeded to Congress Hall, in Washington city, where the usual ceremonies of inauguration were performed. The ex-president, Mr. Madison, and the judges of the supreme court, were present on the occasion. All entered the chamber of the senate, which body was then in session, and the vice-president took the chair, the oath of office being administered to him, when he delivered a short address.

This ceremony being ended, the senate adjourned, and the president and vice-president, the judges of the supreme court, and the senators present, attended the president to the elevated portico temporarily erected for the occasion, where, in the presence of an immense concourse of citizens and strangers, including the government officers and foreign ministers, he delivered his inaugural address.

Having concluded his address, the oath of office was administered to the president by Chief-Justice Marshall.

The liberal tone of the president's address, and the course of policy indicated by it, gave general satisfaction to citizens of all political opinions, and the commencement of the new administration was hailed as the dawn of an era of good feelings.

The individuals selected by the president to form his cabinet, were all of the republican, or democratic school of politics, and distinguished for their ability as statesmen, in various public stations which they had previously held. John Quincy Adams, of Massachusetts, was appointed secretary of state, William H. Crawford, of Georgia, secretary of the treasury, John C. Calhoun, of South Carolina, secretary of war, and William Wirt, of Virginia, attorney-general. The two latter gentlemen were appointed in December, 1817, Mr. Calhoun having been named in place of Governor Isaac Shelby, of Kentucky, who declined the offer of head of the war department, which was first offered to him. Benjamin W. Crowninshield, of Massachusetts, was continued as secretary of the navy (which appoint

ment he had received from Mr. Madison) until November 30, 1818, when Smith Thompson, of New York, was appointed in his place.* Return Jonathan Meigs, of Ohio, was also continued as postmaster-general (not then a cabinet officer), and held that office from March, 1814, until December, 1823, when John M'Lean, of Ohio, succeeded him. The foregoing were the only changes made by Mr. Monroe in the cabinet or heads of departments, in the eight years of his administration, showing greater permanency and harmony in the affairs of the national government, during that period, than át any other time since the adoption of the federal constitution.

During the late war with Great Britain, a practical opportunity was afforded to the government of the United States to discover the relative importance of the defences erected along the frontier, and the strength and utility of the various fortified places on the Atlantic coast. The frequent and sometimes successful incursions of the late enemy, enforced the necessity of selecting new points for the erection of strong and efficient batteries to protect the country against future invasion; of demolishing such works as were thence found to have been constructed in improper situations; and of concentrating the regular forces at such positions as should render their co-operation speedy and effective.

Impressed with the magnitude of this subject, Mr. Monroe had no sooner passed through the forms of inauguration, than he directed his attention to the means by which to accomplish so desirable an object. A mere theoretical knowledge would be insufficient for the consummation of his views; and, indeed, could not be entirely depended upon. Availing himself, therefore, of the experience acquired before the close of the late contest, he determined to engage in a personal examination of the situation, strength, and condition of all the citadels and military posts in the northern and eastern departments of the Union. To the early execution of this intention he was urged, as he himself intimated, by a desire to look into the economical expenditures of the public moneys, which had been liberally appropriated by Congress; to facilitate the completion of these measures; and to ascertain the propriety of adopting plans suggested by the agents employed in the service of fortification.

Taking advantage of a season of comparative leisure, the president left Washington city on the 31st of May, 1817, entered upon his laudable undertaking, and prosecuted his route through all the principal towns and cities which he had marked out for his first tour of observation. Departing from the capital, he passed through Baltimore to the state of Delaware, to the cities of Philadelphia and New York, and the chief towns in Connecticut and Rhode Island, to Boston and other parts of Massachusetts; to the capital and other towns in New Hampshire; and through the province of Maine to Portland. Thence he extended his journey westward through Vermont; inspected the works at Plattsburgh; and passing through the forest to the St. Lawrence, he embarked for Lake Ontario; visited Sack* Dec. 9, 1823, Samuel L. Southard, of N. J., succeeded Mr. Thompson, appointed judge.

ett's Harbor and Fort Niagara; and advancing along the strait to Buffalo, sailed through Lake Erie, and landed at Detroit, the extremity of his tour. He took a direction thence through the woods of the Michigan territory, and through the states of Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Maryland, toward the District of Columbia, where he arrived after an absence of more than three months.

The persevering manner in which this long, laborious, and fatiguing journey was performed, are strong and certain indications of its beneficial results.

With an alacrity paralleled only by the prompt aid of the citizens to accelerate his movements, the president inspected garrisons; examined fortifications; reviewed infantry regiments at cantonments; and obtained a knowledge of the condition of the military arsenals and naval depôts along the Atlantic and inland frontiers. To these numerous duties he added the desire to promote the prosperity of the people; to correct abuses in the public offices; to avert the calamities incident to any future period of hostilities; to meliorate the condition of the poorer classes of society; and to unite and harmonize the sentiments and affections of the citizens of one section with those of another. A considerable part of his journey in returning from the northwestern frontier, was through a succession of forests and Indian settlements. He sustained, however, all the inconveniences of comfortless lodgings, and unpleasant and fatiguing travelling, without any abatement of that cheerfulness and sense of public duty manifested in the commencement of his tour, the advantageous results of which will long be remembered and acknowledged by the nation.*

The visit of the president to the principal cities and towns of the middle and eastern states, possessed the charm of novelty, neither Mr. Jefferson nor Mr. Madison having followed the example set by General Washington, during their presidential terms. They, consequently, were personally unknown to the great body of the people. Mr. Monroe was everywhere received with enthusiasm by the people, and honored with civic and military escorts and processions, in the cities, towns, and villages, through which he passed. His ordinary costume on these occasions was the undress uniform formerly worn by officers of the American revolution, namely, a military blue coat of domestic manufacture, light underclothes, and a cocked hat; a becoming taste for a president who had been a soldier of the revolution, and which tended to awaken in the minds of the people the remembrance of the days of Washington. In his reply to an address from the New York society of the Cincinnati, the president said: "The opportunity which my visit to this city has presented of meeting the New York society of the Cincinnati, with many of whom I was well acquainted in our revolution, affords me heartfelt satisfaction. It is impossible to meet any of those patriotic citizens, whose valuable services were Narrative of President's Tour.

so intimately connected with that great event, without recollections which it is equally just and honorable to cherish."

To an address of the president of the American Society for the Encouragement of Manufactures, at New York, the president replied, that he duly appreciated the objects of the institution, which were particularly dear to him from their being intimately connected with the real independence of our country; and closed with an assurance that he would use his efforts, as far as the general interest of the country would permit, to promote the patriotic and laudable objects of the society.

The citizens of Kennebunk and its vicinity, in Maine, having in their address alluded to the prospects of a political union among the people, in support of the administration, the president said, in reply: "You are pleased to express a confident hope that a spirit of mutual conciliation may be one of the blessings which may result from my administration. This indeed would be an eminent blessing, and I pray it may be realized. Nothing but union is wanting to make us a great people. The present time affords the happiest presage that this union is fast consummating. It can not be otherwise; I daily see greater proofs of it. The further I advance in my progress in the country, the more I perceive that we are all Americans—that we compose but one family-that our republican institutions will be supported and perpetuated by the united zeal and patri otism of all. Nothing could give me greater satisfaction than to behold a perfect union among ourselves-a union which is necessary to restore to social intercourse its former charms, and to render our happiness, as a nation, unmixed and complete. To promote this desirable result requires no compromise of principle, and I promise to give it my continued attention, and my best endeavors."

No part of his subsequent official conduct contradicted the magnanimous spirit which Mr. Monroe discovered at the commencement of his administration, excepting that he seems to have considered that his duty to the party to which he owed his election, and to which he had been attached through life, required him, in his selections for public office, to confine himself to men professing democracy, and the continued exclusion of federalists from the favor of the national government. The federal party, however, was almost entirely prostrated soon after the peace of 1815, and continued their organization in but few of the states, after a feeble struggle of three or four years. Those who had acted with the party were satisfied with the principles and views generally adopted by the administration of Mr. Monroe; and those who might have sought office, if in the majority, had been so long accustomed to the ban of proscription, that they did not probably complain at being still placed without the pale of governmental favor.

Had the president followed the advice of General Jackson, who, in a correspondence with him preceding and immediately after his election