elected, than can be found in the speeches of members of Congress, or in the writings of the partisan editors. The President has always been regarded as the only authorized single exponent of the party principles, and however more conspicuous in point of leadership, active advocacy, or talent others may have been, their expositions receive but a limited respect compared with the general consideration attached to the Messages as authoritative party manifestoes. Nothing, certainly, could have been farther from the design of those who compounded the theory of our government, than that, in its practical operation, the President should be the official head of a party. They intended for him an independent position, similar to that of the British sovereign; but it is impossible thus to isolate any office from party influence, which rests on popular election. An ingeniously-compounded electoral system was devised as the only partition practicable between the people and the President; but in the first instance, the people selected the President in advance of the electors, and as soon as the system placed an impediment in the way of the popular will, it was broken through by a constitutional amendment; and we have now electoral colleges only to show the futility of an effort to base a high office in a Republic founded on universal, or nearly universal suffrage, on any other foundation than that of popular choice. The evils which our fathers might have feared from this reduction in the position intended for the chief magistrate have not wholly overtaken us, and there are good reasons, considering the dignity, restraint, and caution, seeming inseparable from the office, why the President should, in preference, be considered the annunciator of the general sentiments, at least, held by the dominant party-in other words, the majority of the people.

The "Statesman's Manual," of which the Presidents' Messages form the principal part, should be on the table of every political editor, and in the library of every professional politician; and it is adapted to other uses than those of a mere book of reference. It is compiled upon such a design that it is entirely suited to the purpose of general reading, and could not fail to interest any man moderately inquisitive on matters of

President are preceded by a tolerably full biography, and followed by a history of his administration, detailing a considerable portion of the party operations, and other influences at work upon the government. It thus brings together matter naturally connected, explains the causes of events which are mentioned in bare detail in formal histories, and to the ordinary reader, adds intelligibility and interest to the Messages.

In addition to these matters, the compilation contains the Declaration of Independence; the Articles of Confederation; the present Constitution, with the decisions of the Supreme Court on all contested points submitted to its jurisdiction; epitomes of the State Constitutions; lists of the members of the Continental and Constitutional Congresses, extending from 1774 to 1846; votes of the States at the Presidential elections; lists of the several Cabinets; Ministers abroad; chronological table, &c. An analytical index is added.

The

In the matter of errors and defects, so important in a work of this character, we notice but a limited proportion. copies of the messages from which it is printed are pure, the typographical revision well made, the mechanical execution very fair. We notice one omission-a proclamation of Washington (other proclamations being inserted) in relation to the resistance to the excise on distilled spirits, issued Sept. 1792, and which is referred to in the message of November of that year, does not appear. Several errors meet us in the historical part of the work. Page 378, it is stated that Mr. Clay was elected Speaker of the House for the "second time," in Dec. 1815; it was the third time, as he had been previously Speaker of the 12th and 13th Houses. On page 354 is a considerable error, for which one of the "authentic writers on American history" appears responsible. It is stated that of the 79 Representatives who voted for the War bill, in 1812, 62 were from the Southern and but 17 from the Northern States; and that in both Houses only 21 voted for the bill. This is decidedly bad history. The list of yeas and nays shows that on the passage of the War bill in the House, of the 79 yeas, 33 were from the North, and 46 from the South and West; and that instead of the war being altogether "a measure of the South and West," it was voted for by a majority of the Representatives of the Middle States (21 to 18,) and that the whole North gave nearly as many votes for (33) as against (38) the measure. There are rather too many errors in the Election Tables, pages 15441546. In the election of 1796, Jefferson's vote is given at 69 in one place, 68 in another; it was neither, but 67, the whole vote being 138, and John Adams's 71.Election of 1800, nine States are named as voting for Jefferson on the 36th ballot in the House: Vermont should be added, making ten. 1817-John Marshall had four instead of five votes as Vice-President in Connecticut. 1820-the vote for Monroe is given at 231, without that of Missouri: the vote as counted by the tellers, and declared by the President of the Senate (see all the papers of the day,) was 231 for Monroe with, or 228 without Missouri's vote. To make up 231, while excluding Missouri, the table gives one vote too many to each of these States, Pennsylvania, Mississippi, Tennessee. The stray vote for John Quincy Adams is credited to Massachusetts; it was New Hampshire, however, and not Massachusetts, which broke the unanimity of Monroe's re-election. 1824in the election of President by the House, Alabama looks very much out of place in the support of Mr. Adams; her three votes were cast for Jackson. 1836-Col. Johnson's vote for Vice-President is made 144, but should be 147, exactly half the whole vote. These errors corrected, as we hope they will be in a future edition, this table will be the only full and correct one of the Presidential elections we have seen published. Page 1547-Geo. Cabot's appointment as Secretary of the Navy is stated to have been made in 1789, which could not have well been; the department not being created until 1798. In the list of Secretaries of the Navy, Jacob Crowninshield, of Mass., is omitted; and Robert Smith, of Md., in the list of Attorney Generals. In a work not intended for a standard character, these errors might be allowed to pass. Federalists, as its friends and opponents were respectively termed, on the question of a more or less effective administration of its powers, had any other candidate than General Washington been brought forward for the Presidency. It was not long after the first administration commenced, be fore an organization, composed nearly exclusively of anti-Federalists, was perceived as an opposition, laboring to defeat the measures of the friends of the President and cabinet, with whom they were nearly matched in strength. The President of the Senate and Speaker of the House (elected before the opposition appeared) were included in this party. Their professed principle was a close construction of the Constitution; all considerable powers not expressly delegated were reserved by the States, and the rights of the States were directly invaded by any attempt to derive large powers by implication. One of the earliest constitutioual debates was on the power of the President to remove the officers whose appointment was vested in him. The anti-Federalists strenuously denied the right of removal, but it was decided against them. Their alarm was again fully aroused by the measures of Mr. Hamilton. The Secretary's Funding scheme-the Internal Duties-the National Bank, appeared to them measures designed to swallow up State sovereignty in a consolidated nation.

With the idea of incorporating the histories of the political parties in that of the administration, we are particularly pleased,

and in our view this feature gives a most decided addition to the value of the work. We regret only that it has not been carried to a farther extent, and that on certain important points, in particular, the action and motives of parties are not more elaborately set forth. The history of parties in the United States is to be written. At the proper time it will be done, and if the proper historian undertakes the work, it will be found that few books of greater interest, or better calculated for instruction, have been written. It will open all the machinery of administration, will reveal the secret sources of motion, and trace their connection to apparent events. It will be regarded as an adjunct to the national history as necessary as the glossaries to the old writers.

We are tempted, having the subject before us, to annex a compendious account of the parties that have hitherto divided the Union.

In the divisions upon the question of the acceptance of the Constitution framed by the Convention of 1787, we discover the origin of the parties that have continued, with various modifications, to the present time. Of the 55 members who attended the deliberations of the convention, 39 signed the constitution it had prepared, and 16 declined affixing their names. In the discussions following, before the people, and in State conventions, the friends and opponents of the Constitution were in most of the larger States nearly balanced. The votes by which it was finally ratified in the several conventions, amendatory recommendations and other considerations disarming much of the opposition, were as follows:

In the second Congress, the Federalists, or Administration party, had a majority in each branch, and in the House elected Jonathan Trumbull, of Connecticut, Speaker, over Frederick A. Muhlenberg, of Pa., the Speaker of the former House. A high degree of irritation prevailed during the session, and extended to the cabinet; Messrs. Jefferson and Hamilton, the ac knowledged leaders of the parties, became irreconcilably hostile to each other. The object of the anti-Federalists, it had now become apparent, was the election of Mr. Jefferson to the Presidency, when it should be vacated by Washington. At his instance, they dropped their name, and substituted that of Republicans, but were called by the Federalists Democrats, a name to which they were not then partial. At the election of 1792, the Democrats

York, for Vice-President, in opposition to Mr. Adams. Of 132 votes cast by the electors, Mr. Adams had 77, Mr. Clinton 50, and there were 5 scattered Democratic votes.

The French Revolution was viewed at the outset with equal favor by both of the parties; but when the Republicans attempted to injure the administration with the people, on account of its measures of neutrality, and to excite the national antipathy to Great Britain; and, when farther, the disposition of the French to rush into wild excesses became apparent, the enthusiasm of the Federalists was very much cooled, and they soon found it necessary to resist the increase of the French influence in the United States, which seemed to them fast hurrying the Democratic party towards the same course on which the French were advancing. The opposition gained strength enough to carry a small majority of the House of Representatives this question, but the majority people still were with the administration. In the third Congress, Mr. Muhlenberg was again elected Speaker by the Democratic majority. The debates were boisterous, and the Whisky Insurrection, and other affairs, added fuel to the flames. The President's Message, at the second session, attributed the insurrection to certain "selfcreated societies," (the Jacobin clubs ;) the House, in their answer, carefully avoided any allusion to the matter, or to the President's foreign policy, the Senate warmly commending his sentiments on both subjects. An attempt in the House to censure the "self-created societies" failed by the Speaker's casting vote.

on

When the British treaty was effected, in 1795, the rage of the opposition went beyond all bounds. The President, who, until now, had been treated with at least outward respect, was vehemently denounced, and charged by a portion of the party with the worst vices and crimes. A small Republican majority had been returned to the House of the fourth Congress, though Jonathan Dayton, a Federalist, was elected Speaker, and an address declaring the confidence of the House in the President to be undiminished, was refused, and the expression modified. In the debates in this

speakers were, on the Federal side, Fisher Ames, Theodore Sedgwick, Robert G. Harper, Roger Griswold, of Connecticut, and Wm. Smith. On the opposition side, Edward Livingston, James Madison, William B. Giles, and Albert Gallatin.

On the resignation by Mr. Jefferson of his seat in the cabinet, another Federalist was added to the President's advisers, and when Mr. Randolph followed, the cabinet was made undividedly Federal.

To succeed Washington, at the election of 1796, the Federalists brought forward John Adams, a small portion of them preferring Mr. Pinckney, who was on the ticket with him, intended for Vice-President. The then called "Republicans" rallied to Mr. Jefferson. The Federalists argued that in the Washingtonian policy was all the safety of the nation-French influence would destroy our liberties if the "Republicans" succeeded. The latter replied that the Federalists had proved themselves a monarchical party by their devotion to England, and would, at the first opportunity, attempt the establishment of regal power. Adams received 71 votes, Jefferson 67. So many votes were withheld from Mr. Pinckney, by the Federal electors in the Eastern States, that he fell below Mr. Jefferson, who consequently became Vice-President. Of the Republican" votes intended for VicePresident, 30 were given to Aaron Burr, and 15 to Samuel Adams.

In the first Congress under Mr. Adams, the Federalists were in a majority in each branch. The measures of this Congress, and of the administration, regarding France, were highly acceptable to the people, the French fever having now pretty much subsided, and been succeeded by indignation at the insults offered to the United States. The Alien and Sedition acts, however, proved very injurious to the party, and added materially to the strength of the opposition. The rancor of political opposition has never gone to such extremes in the United States as at this period. Of about 200 papers published in the United States at this time, the Federalists had the overwhelming proportion of 180, while to restore the balance, the Republicans had a body of foreigners in their ranks estimated a little short of

In the sixth Congress, the administration party was in a majority in each branch, as in the last. At the first session caucuses of the members of each party were held to nominate candidates for President and Vice-President, for the coming election. The Federalists nominated Mr. Adams for re-election, with C. C. Pinckney for Vice-President; the Republicans nominated Mr. Jefferson and Col. Burr. Before the session adjourned, the result of the New York State election was ascertained, the Republicans carrying the Legislature, (which was to choose the Presidential electors) and thus deciding a change of the vote of that State from the preceding election. The hopes of the Republicans were raised in a high degree, and those of the Federalists somewhat depressed, but they did not consider the election decided, and made preparations for a vigorous effort to repair the loss by gains in other States.

The quarrel between the President and a portion of his cabinet, which had been long fomenting, became an open rupture about this time. The President's course in one part of the French affair had been condemned by a portion of the party, including many of the influential leaders, and among them, Gen. Hamilton; as well as the Secretaries of State and War, Messrs. Pickering and M'Henry. The altercation had gone on between the President and Secretaries, increasing the excited feelings between them, until the President dismissed them both from the cabinet, replacing the Secretary of State by John Marshall, of Virginia, and the Secretary of War by Samuel Dexter, of Massachusetts. The dismissed Secretaries denounced the President's "ungovernable temper" and "incorrect maxims of administration," and a considerable portion of the party seconded their complaints. Gen. Hamilton wrote a letter highly censuring Mr. Adams's course, and exposing his faults of character. It is supposed Gen. Hamilton designed by this letter, intended for circulation at the South, to induce the Federal electors of that quarter to cast their votes so as to secure the election of Pinckney over Adams, in case the party succeeded. If