self a name as imperishable as monumental brass. Con sult no party in your choice. Pursue the dictates of that unerring judgment which has so long and so often benefited the country, and rendered conspicuous its rulers."

The advice thus confidentially imparted to Mr. Monroe was acknowledged by the latter to be salutary, but he deemed the time not to have arrived when the object could be fully accomplished. "I agree with you decidedly," he says, "that the chief magistrate of the country ought not to be the head of a party, but of the nation itself. In deciding, however, how a new administration is to be formed, many considerations claim attention, as on a proper estimate of them much may depend of the success of that administration, and even of the republican cause. We have heretofore been divided into two great parties; the contest between them has never ceased from its commencement to the present time, nor do I think it can be said now to have ceased. To give effect to a free government, and secure it from future danger, ought not its decided friends, who stood firm, to be principally relied on? Would not the association of any of their opponents in the administration, itself wound their feelings, or at least of very many of them, to the injury of the republican cause? Might it not be considered by the other party as an offer of compromise with them, and have a tendency to revive that party, on its former principles? My impression is, that the administration should rest strongly on the republican party, indulging towards the other a spirit of moderation, and evincing a desire to discriminate between its members, and to bring the whole into the republican fold, as quietly as possible. The first object is to save the cause, which can be done by those who are devoted to it, only, and of course by keeping them together; or in other words by not disgusting, by too hasty an act of liberality to the other party, thereby breaking the generous spirit of the republican party, and keeping alive that of the federal. The second is to prevent the reorgani zation and revival of the federal party; which, if my hypothesis is true, that the existence of party is not necessary to a free government, and the other opinion which I have advanced is well founded, that the great body of the federal party are republican, will not be found impracticable. To accomplish both objects, and thereby exterminate all party divisions in our country, and give new strength and stability to our government, is a great undertaking, and not easily executed. I agree perfectly with you in the grand

object, that moderation should be shown to the federal party, and even a generous policy adopted towards it; the only difference between us seems to be, how far shall that spirit be indulged in the outset.

In the formation of an administration, it appears to me that the representative principle ought to be respected, in a certain degree, at least that a head of a department, there being four, should be taken from the four great sections of the union, the east, the middle, the south, and the west. This principle should not always be adhered to; great emergencies and transcendent talents, would always justify a departure from it, but it would produce a good effect, to attend to it when practicable. Each part of the union would be gratified by it, and the knowledge of local details and means, which would thereby be brought into the cabinet, would be useful. I am in no wise compromitted, in respect to any one, but free to act according to my judgment."

Sec. 3. In the summer and autumn following his inauguration, the president made a tour through the northern and eastern states of the union.

The objects of this tour were connected with the national interests. Congress had appropriated large sums of money for the fortification of the sea coast, and inland frontiers, for the establishment of naval docks, and for increasing the navy. The superintendence of these works belonged to the president. Solicitous to discharge his duty in reference to them with judgment, fidelity, and economy, he was induced to visit the most important points along the sea coast, and in the interior, from a conviction of being better able to direct in reference to them, with the knowledge derived from personal observation, than by means of information communicated to him by others. He left Washington on the first of June, accompanied by Gen. Joseph C. Swift, chief engineer of the United States, and his private secretary, Mr. Mason. Passing through Baltimore, Philadelphia, NewYork, New-Haven, Hartford, New-London, and Providence, he arrived in Boston, in which place and its vicinity he spent several days.

On leaving Boston, he continued eastward to Portland, through Salem, Newburyport, and Portsmouth; and thence directed his course westward to Plattsburg, in the state of New-York. In his route thither, he passed through Dover, Concord, and Hanover, in New-Hampshire, and through

Windsor and Burlington, in Vermont. The important post of Plattsburg occupied his close attention for several days. From this latter place he continued westward to Ogdensburg, Sacket's Harbor, and Detroit. Having now effected the leading objects of his tour, he commenced his return to the seat of government, through the interior of Ohio. At the close of the day, September 17th, he entered Washington, after having been absent more than three months, and having travelled three thousand miles. In the course of his tour, the president examined the various fortifications on the sea board, and in the interior, visited public buildings and institutions devoted to the purposes of literature, the arts, and general benevolence. Although undesirous of attracting public attention on a tour whose object was the good of his country, he was met by a respectable deputation from the various places through which it was understood he would pass, and in lively and patriotic addresses was welcomed to their hospitality.

Sec. 4. Congress met on the 1st of December. In his message at the opening of the session, the president stated that the national credit was attaining a high elevation; that preparations for the defence of the country were progressing, under a well digested system; that arrangements had been made with Great Britain to reduce the naval force of the two countries on the western lakes; and that it was agreed that each country should keep possession of the islands which belonged to it before the war; and that the foreign relations of the country continued to be pacific. The message concluded with recommending the surviving officers and soldiers of the revolutionary army to the special notice of congress, and the repeal of the internal duties, on the ground that the state of the treasury rendered their longer continuance unnecessary.

Sec. 5. On the 11th, the state of MISSISSIPPI was acknowledged by congress as sovereign and independent, and was admitted to the union.

The first European who visited the present state of Mis

sissippi, appears to have been Ferdinand de Soto, a native of Badajoz, in Spain, who landed on the coast of Florida on the 25th of May, 1539. He spent three years in the country searching for gold, but at length died, and was buried on the banks of the Mississippi, May, 1542.

In 1683, M. de Salle descended the Mississippi, and gave the name of Louisiana to the country. In consequence of this, the French claimed to have jurisdiction over it. In 1716, they formed a settlement at the Natchez, and built a fort, which they named Rosalie. Other settlements were effected in subsequent years. The French settlements were, however, seriously disturbed by the Indians, particularly by the Natchez, once the most powerful of all the southern tribes.

The French retained an acknowledged title to the country on the east side of the Mississippi, until the treaty of 1763, when they ceded their possessions, east of that river, to the English. By the treaty of 1783, Great Britain relinquished the Floridas to Spain, without specific bounda ries; and at the same time ceded to the United States all the country north of the thirty-first degree of latitude. The Spaniards retained possession of the Natchez and the ports north of the thirty-first degree, until 1798, when they finally abandoned them to the United States.

In the year 1800, the territory between the Mississippi and the western boundary of Georgia, was erected into a distinct territorial government. By treaty at Fort Adam, in 1801, the Choctaw Indians relinquished to the United States a large body of land, and other cessions have since been made. On the 1st of March, 1817, congress authorized the people of the western part of Mississippi territory to form a constitution and state government. A convention met in July, 1817, by which a constitution was formed, and in December following, Mississippi was admitted into the union as a separate state.

Sec. 6. In the course of the same month, an expedition which had been set on foot by & number of adventurers from different countries, against East and West Florida, was terminated by the troops of the United States. These adventurers claimed to be acting under the authority of some of the South American colonies, and had formed an establishment at Amelia Island

a Spanish province, then the subject of negotiation between the United States and Spain. Their avowed object being an invasion of the Floridas, and of course an invasion of a part of the United States, the American government deemed itself authorized, without designing any hostility to Spain, to take possession of Amelia Island, their head-quarters.

A similar establishment had previously been formed at Galvezton, a small island on the coast of the Texas, claimed by the United States. From both of these places privateers were fitted out, which greatly annoyed our regular commerce. Prizes were sent in, and by a pretended court of admiralty, condemned and sold. Slaves, in great numbers, were shipped through these islands to the United States, and through the same channel extensive clandestine importations of goods were made. Justly apprehending the results of these establishments, if suffered to proceed unmoiested, the executive took early measures to suppress them. Accordingly, a naval force, with the necessary troops, was dispatched, under command of Captains Henly and Bankhead, to whom Amelia Island was surrendered, on the 24th of December, without the effusion of blood. The supresssion of Galvezton followed soon after.

Sec. 7. Several bills of importance passed congress, during their session, in the winter of 1817, 1818; a bill allowing to the members of the senate and house of representatives, the sum of eight dollars per day, during their attendance; a second, in compliance with the recommendation of the president, abolishing the internal duties; and a third, providing, upon the same recommendation, for the indigent officers and soldiers of the revolutionary army.

The compensation bill, as it was called, excited much sensation throughout the nation, on the ground that the sum was unnecessarily enhanced, and gave occasion to long and animated debates on the floor of the house of representatives. By a portion of the representatives, strenuous efforts were made to fix the per diem allowance at six dollars,