JAMES MADISON,

FOURTH president of the United States, was the son of James Madison, of Orange county, Va., and was born March 16th, 1751. He studied the English, Latin, Greek, French, and Italian languages, and was fitted for college under the instruction of Mr. Robertson, a Scotchman, and the Rev. Mr. Martin, a Jerseyman; was graduated at Princeton, N. J., in 1771; and afterwards remained a year at college, pursuing his studies under the superintendence of Dr. Witherspoon, the president. His constitution was impaired by his close application to his studies, and his health was for many years feeble. In 1776, he was elected a member of the general assembly of Virginia; in 1778, of the executive council; in the winter of 177980, of the continental Congress, of which he continued a member till 1784; in 1787, a member of Congress, and in the same year a delegate to the convention at Philadelphia, which formed the present constitution of the United States. He continued a distinguished member of Congress till March, 1797, the end of Washington's administration. On the accession of Mr. Jefferson to the presidency, in 1801, Mr. Madison was appointed secretary of state, which office he held during the eight years of Mr. Jefferson's administration; and, in 1809, he succeeded his friend and coadjutor as president of the United States. After having filled the office for two terms, he retired to his seat, Montpelier, where he passed his remaining years chiefly as a private citizen, declining political office, except that he acted as visiter and rector of the University of Virginia. He was distinguished for his great talents and acquirements, for the important offices which he filled, and for his virtues in private life. Mr. Madison was the last surviving member of the convention that formed the constitution of the United States; he was one of its most distinguished champions, and at the time of its adoption he was associated with Hamilton and Jay in the production of the celebrated work entitled the "Federalist." Mr. Madison left, in manuscript, "A careful and extended Report of the Proceedings and Discus

sions" of the convention of 1787, that framed the constitution of the United States, which he directed in his will to be published under the authority and direction of his widow. Mr. Madison died June the 28th, 1837, in his 86th year.

JAMES MONROE,

FIFTH president of the United States, was a native of Virginia. He was educated at William and Mary College, and in 1776, joined the army in the American revolutionary struggle, and continued with it till 1778, when he retired, and engaged in the study of the law. In 1780, he held the office of military commissioner for Virginia, and in that capacity visited the southern army. In 1782, he was a member of the Virginia assembly, and in 1783, a member of Congress. In 1788, he was a member of the convention in Virginia to deliberate on the proposed constitution for the United States. In 1790, he was elected a senator of the United States from Virginia. In 1794, he received the appointment of minister plenipotentiary to France, and was recalled in 1797. In 1799, he was elected governor of Virginia. In 1802, he was sent on a special mission to France, which resulted in the purchase of Louisiana. In 1803, he was appointed minister to England. In 1805, he was associated with Mr. Charles Pinckney to negotiate with Spain. During his residence in England, he and Mr. William Pinckney negotiated a commercial treaty with Great Britain, but it was never submitted to the senate by Mr. Jefferson. returned to America in 1808. In 1811, he was governor of Virginia, and the same year received from Mr. Madison the appointment of secretary of state, which office he held till his election of president, March 4, 1817. During a part of the time, in 1814 and 1815, he also performed the duties of secretary of war. He was again elected president in 1821. He died July 4th, 1831.

He

JOHN QUINCY ADAMS,

SIXTI president of the United States, was the son of John Adams, second president of the United States. He was born in Quincy, Mass., in 1767, and was named for his great grandfather, John Quincy, who bore a distinguished part in the councils of the province.

At the age of eleven years he visited France with his father, and remained in various parts of Europe most of the time, till 1785, when he returned to the United States, and became a member of Harvard University. In 1787, he left college, and commenced the study of law with Theophilus Parsons, of Newburyport. After completing his legal studies he removed to Boston, with a view of employing himself in the practice of his profession. His leisure was occupied in political studies and writings, and his reputation was soon established as a distinguished statesman.

In 1794, he was appointed minister resident to the Netherlands, by Gen. Washington, who afterwards appointed him minister plenipotentiary to Portugal; but before entering on the duties of this station, his destination was changed to Berlin, in Prussia, where he negotiated a treaty of commerce. He was recalled by his father in 1801.

In 1802, he was elected to the senate of Massachusetts, and in 1803, was chosen to represent his native state in the Senate of the United States; which place he resigned in 1808. In 1806, he was appointed professor of rhetoric and oratory in Harvard college. In 1809, he was appointed minister to Russia by Mr. Madison, and afterwards one of the commissioners for negotiating a treaty of peace with England. In 1817, he was appointed sec retary of state by Mr. Monroe, which office he honorably filled till he was chosen president of the United States, in 1825, by the House of Representatives, he having received the votes of thirteen states, Gen. Jackson seven, and Mr. Crawford of four states.

After serving his country as president for four years, Mr. Adams was succeeded by Gen. Andrew Jackson.

In 1831, he accepted a seat in Congress, as the representative of his native district. In this body he took the rank to which great talents, experience, and services fully entitled him. His speeches were marked with the stern independence and fearless expression of opinion which, throughout his life, were his great characteristics. He could always command respectful attention. He particularly distinguished himself as the strenuous advocate of the right of petition, which had for some years been trampled under foot by Congress, on account of the clamor of the representatives from the southern states.

Mr. Adams remained in Congress until his death, which occurred on the 23d of February, 1848. As he rose to move the previous question in the house, he was attacked by paralysis, and being conveyed into the rotunda of the Capitol, he remained there insensible till the next day, when, surrounded by many faithful and lamenting friends, his long and useful life was brought to a close. He died like a hero on the scene of his glory! and left a name and fame of a great and good man to the admiration and reverence of his countrymen.

ANDREW JACKSON,

SEVENTH President of the United States, was born of Irish parents, at Waxaw, S. C., March 15, 1767. When fourteen years of age, he joined the revolutionary army, with his

brother, and was soon after, with his brother and several others, taken prisoner by the British, and treated with great severity. In a short time his brother died, and in 1783 his mother was taken away, leaving him without kindred in the country of his birth. His mother had destined him for the ministry, and he pursued his studies with that view till he was eighteen years of age, when he commenced the study of the law, under the direction of Spruce M'Cay, Esq., and finished under the tuition of Col. John Stokes.

In 1788, he removed to Tennessee, and commenced the

practice of law at Nashville, in which he was quite successful, and, in 1791, was appointed attorney-general for the district. In 1796, he was chosen a member of the convention for framing a constitution for the State; and the same year elected representative to Congress. In 1797, he became a member of the United States Senate, which office he resigned the following year, and soon after was appointed judge of the supreme court of the State, and major-general

of the Tennessee militia.

In 1812, he took command of 2,500 Tennessee volunteers; and continued in the service of the country during the war with Great Britain, until its close at New Orleans, January 8, 1815. Afterwards he commanded an expedition against the Seminoles, and was appointed governor of Florida in 1821. In 1822, he was again elected a member of the United States Senate.

In 1828, General Jackson was elected President of the United States, to which high office he was again elected in 1832. His popularity during his administration was great and uninterrupted. After the close of his second term, General Jackson issued a valedictory address to the people of the United States, and withdrew wholly from public life, to his residence in Tennessee, where he died on the 8th of June, 1845, aged 78 years. Men will accord to him the merit of possessing great energy and strength of will, remarkable military skill, and warm patriotism, whatever opinion may be entertained of the wisdom of his policy while in official stations.

MARTIN VAN BUREN,

EIGHTH President of the United States, was born at Kinderhook, New York, December 5, 1782. His parents were of Dutch descent, and in humble circumstances. At the age of fourteen he commenced the study of the law, in the office of Francis Sylvester, Esq., in his native village. In 1803, he was admitted to the bar of the supreme court, and com