EFFERSON'S Inaugural Address was worthy of the author of the Declaration of Independence. As this is one of the most celebrated state papers which has ever proceeded from the pen of its writer, we quote some passages from it:

Equal and exact justice to all men, of whatsoever state or persuasion, re

ligious or political; peace, commerce, and honest friendship with all nations, entangling alliances with none; the support of the state governments in all their rights, as the most competent administrations of our domestic concerns, and the surest bulwarks against anti-republican tendencies; the preservation of the general government in its whole constitutional vigour, as the sheet-anchor of our peace at home and safety abroad; a jealous care of the right of election by the people, a mild and safe corrective of abuses which are lopped by the sword of revolution where peaceable remedies are unprovided; absolute acquiescence in the decision of the majority,

IV.-3

(17)

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JEFFERSON'S INAUGURAL ADDRESS.

the vital principle of republics, from which there is no appeal but to force, the vital principle and immediate parent of despotism; a well-disciplined militia, our best reliance in peace, and for the first moments of war, till regulars may relieve; the supremacy of the civil over the military authority; economy in the public expense, that labour may be lightly burdened; the honest payment of our debts and sacred preservation of the public faith; encouragement of agriculture, and of commerce as its handmaid; the diffusion of information, and arraignment of all abuses at the bar of the public reason; freedom of religion; freedom of the press; and freedom of the person, under the protection of the habeas corpus; and trial by juries impartially selected. These are the essential principles of our government, and those which ought to shape its administration. These form the bright constellation, which has gone before us and guided our steps through an age of revolution and reformation. The wisdom of our sages and blood of our heroes have been devoted to their attainment: they should be the creed of our political faith, the text of civic instruction, the touchstone to try the services of those we trust; and should we wander from them in moments of error or alarm, let us hasten to retrace our steps, and to regain the road which alone leads to peace, liberty, and safety."

The principal offices of the government were now transferred to members of the republican party; the important post of secretary of state being filled by Mr. Madison. Immediately preceding his retirement from office, Mr. Adams had appointed twelve new judges, in pursuance of a recent law of Congress. These were called the midnight judiciary, from the alleged fact that they were appointed at twelve o'clock, on the last night of the president's term of office. One of the first acts of Congress was the passage of a bill reorganizing the judiciary department, in pursuance of a recommendation from the president. By this bill, the lately appointed members of the judiciary were deprived of their offices.* Another

*Tucker's Life of Jefferson.

CENSUS OF THE UNITED STATES.

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bill was then passed, putting the laws of naturalization on an enlarged basis.

During the year 1801, a second census of the United States was completed, showing a population of five millions three hundred and nineteen thousand seven hundred and sixty-two, an increase of one million four hundred thousand in ten years. The enormous increase of exports from nineteen to ninetyfour millions of dollars, and the corresponding augmentation of the revenue from nearly five to nearly thirteen millions of dollars, can only be attributed to the liberal institutions of the country, which secured equal privileges to all, and gave free scope to the enterprise and industry of the inhabitants.

By the general pacification of Europe in 1801, Spain had ceded Louisiana to France, and many and anxious were the fears entertained by the people of this country. The vast extent of country embraced by the United States, necessarily implied a difference in the interests of the people of the several parts; and were the French in possession of the Mississippi, many feared that by the offer of the navigation of that river, and the use of the port and depôt of New Orleans to the Western States, they might be detached from the union.* And even if they should adhere to the union, it seemed probable that the whole country would be frequently involved in war by them, in their efforts to resist the encroachments of a powerful neighbour. This was sufficiently felt by the Americans when that territory was owned by Spain; but when they learned that the powerful and ambitious leaders of the French republic were masters of it, their worst fears seemed about to be realized. In addition to these circumstances, the country would then be bounded on three sides, north, south, and west, by the two most potent nations of the world. A fortunate turn in the affairs of Europe, judiciously improved by the President and Congress, removed the fears of the people, and put the whole territory in possession of the United States. The following extracts from a letter of the President to Mr. Livingston, American envoy at Paris, will

* Tucker.