office of the Hon. Theophilus Parsons, for many years afterwards chief justice of Massachusetts. While pursuing his studies he found leisure to write several newspaper essays, which attracted much attention, and displayed a maturity of taste and judgment seldom attained so early in life. In 1794 Washington appointed him minister to the Netherlands, and subsequently transferred him to Portugal. He was afterwards, at different periods, minister to Prussia, Russia, and England; and was one of the commissioners who negotiated the treaty of peace with Great Britain at Ghent in 1815. In 1817 he was appointed Secretary of State, in which office he continued during Mr. Monroe's administration, eight years; when he was elected by the House of Representatives President of the United States-the people having failed in making a choice. Like his father, he encountered strong opposition, and only served one term in this office, being defeated in a re-election by General Jackson. He then retired to his farm at Quincy, but did not long remain in private life; for two years afterwards, he was chosen representative in Congress, and continued to be re-elected until his death, which occurred in the capitol at Washington, February 23, 1848. Two days previous to this sad event, while engaged in his duties in the House of Representatives, he received a paralytic stroke, which apparently deprived him of all consciousness. He was borne to the Speaker's room, where he received every attention that could be bestowed by anxious and devoted friends, but all in vain-his hour was come. The last words he was heard to utter were, "This is the last of earth!"

Mr. Adams was a man of rare gifts and rich acquisitions. A diligent student, and economical of his time, he found opportunity, amidst all his public cares, to cultivate his tastes for literature and the sciences. He was one of the finest classical and belles-lettres scholars of his time, and filled the chair of Professor of Rhetoric and BellesLettres in Harvard college for several years. Even in his old age, ho often astonished his hearers with the elegant classical allusions and rhetorical tropes with which he enriched and embellished his own productions.

ANDREW JACKSON,

THE SEVENTH PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES,

A STATESMAN of rare integrity, and a general of invincible skill and courage, was born at Waxhaw, Lancaster county, S. C., in 1767, and while yet a mere lad, did something towards achieving the independence of his country. It is said that he commenced his military career at the age of fourteen years, and was soon after taken prisoner, together with an elder brother. During his captivity, he was ordered

by a British officer to perform some menial service, which he promptly refused, and for this refusal he was "severely wounded with the sword which the Englishman disgraced." He was educated for the bar, and commenced practice at Nashville, Tenn., but relinquished his legal pursuits to "gain a name in arms." In the early part of the war of 1812, Congress having voted to accept fifty thousand volunteers, General Jackson appealed to the militia of Tennessee, when twentyfive hundred enrolled their names, and presented themselves to Con gress, with Jackson at their head. They were accepted, and ordered to Natchez, to watch the operations of the British in lower Mississippi. Not long after, he received orders from head-quarters, to disband his men, and send them to their homes. To obey, he foresaw, would be an act of great injustice to his command, and reflect disgrace on the country, and he resolved to disobey. He accordingly broke up his camp, and returned to Nashville, bringing all his sick with him, whose wants on the way he relieved with his private means, and there disbanded his troops in the midst of their homes.

He was soon called to the field once more, and his commission marked out his course of duty on the field of Indian warfare. Here for years he labored, and fought, and diplomatized, with the most consummate wisdom and undaunted courage. It was about this time that the treaty of the "Hickory Ground" occurred, which gave him the familiar sobriquet of "Old Hickory."

The crowning glory of his whole military career was the battle of New Orleans; which will ever occupy one of the brightest pages in American history.

At the close of the war he returned to his home in Nashville; but In 1818 was again called on by his country to render his military services in the expulsion of the Seminoles. His conduct during this campaign has been both bitterly condemned and highly applauded. An attempt in the House of Representatives to inflict a censure on the old hero for the irregularities of this campaign, after a long and bitter debate, was defeated by a large majority.

In 1828, and again in 1832, General Jackson was elected to fill the presidential chair;__ thus occupying that elevated position for eight successive years. He then retired to his hospitable mansion ("The Hermitage") near Nashville, "loaded with wealth and honors, bravely won," where he continued to realize all the enjoyments that are inseparable from a well-spent life, until death translated him to those higher rewards, which "earth can neither give nor take away." He died Jure 8, 1845, and his last hours were soothed by a trustful reliance on the Saviour of the world for salvation.

MARTIN VAN BUREN,

THE EIGHTH PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES,

Was born in the flourishing town of Kinderhook, New York, September 5, 1782, and early received the best education that could then be obtained in the schools in his immediate vicinity. Having sufficiently prepared himself for the study of law, he entered the office of Francis Sylvester, in his native town, where he remained about six

much from the neighboring Indians; and believing that he could be of greater service in repelling the savage invaders than in pursuing his studies, he accepted an ensign's commission from President Washing ton, and joined the army. He was promoted to a lieutenancy in 1792, and his skill and bravery were highly commended by General Wayne, under whose command he was engaged in several actions. After the bloody battle of Miami Rapids, he was rewarded with the rank of captain, and immediately placed in command of Fort Washington. In 1797 he resigned his commission, for the purpose of accepting the office of secretary of the North-west Territory, from which he was elected a delegate to Congress in 1799.

When a territorial government was formed for Indiana, he was appointed the first governor, and continued in that office till 1813. To his civil and military duties he added those of commissioner and superintendent of Indian affairs; and, in the course of his administra tion, he concluded thirteen important treaties with the different tribes. On the 7th of November, 1811, he gained the celebrated battle of Tippecanoe, the news of which was received throughout the country with a burst of enthusiasm. During the war of 1812 he was made commander of the north-western army of the United States, and he bore a conspicuous part in the leading events in the campaign of 1812-13, the defence of Fort Meigs, and the victory of the Thames. In 1814, he was appointed, in conjunction with his companions in arms, Governor Shelby and General Cass, to treat with the Indians in the north-west, at Greenville; and, in the following year, he was placed at the head of a commission to treat with various other important tribes.

In 1816, he was elected a member of Congress from Ohio; and, in 1828, he was sent minister plenipotentiary to the republic of Colombia. On his return, he took up his residence at North Bend, on the Ohio, where he lived upon his farm, in comparative retirement, till 1837, when he became a candidate for the Presidency; and although defeated on the first trial, four years afterwards he was elected by a large majority, and inaugurated in 1845. But he did not long survive this crowning honor, as he died on the 4th of April, just one month after entering upon his duties. His funeral obsequies were performed on the 7th, and an immense concourse assembled to pay their testimony of respect. Funeral services and processions also took place in most of the principal cities throughout the country. As General Harrison was the first President who died while in office, his successor Mr. Tyler, recommended that the 14th of May be observed as a day of fasting and prayer, and accordingly it was so observed.