Fellow citizens, you are acquainted with the peculiar circumstances of the recent elections, which have resulted in affording me the opportunity of addressing you at this time. You have heard the exposition of the principles which will direct me in the fulfilment of the high and solemn trust imposed upon me in this station. Less possessed of your confidence in advance than any of my predecessors, I am deeply conscious of the prospect that I shall stand more and oftener in need of your indulgence. Intentions upright and pure, a heart devoted to the welfare of our country, and the unceasing application of the faculties allotted to me to her service, are all the pledges that I can give to the faithful performance of the arduous duties I am to undertake. To the guidance of the legislative councils; to the assistance of the executive and subordinate departments; to the friendly co-operation of the respective state governments; to the candid and liberal support of the people, so far as it may be deserved by honest industry and zeal, I shall look for whatever success may attend my public service; and knowing that, except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain, with fervent supplications for his favour, to his overruling providence I commit, with humble but fearless confidence, my own fate, and the future destinies of my country.

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ALBERT GALLATIN.

MR. GALLATIN is eighty-seven; and in the winter of 1845-6, when I saw him in New York, was in the full enjoyment of excellent bodily health and mental vigour. In the previous June I had been gratified by a long interview with this enlightened and sagacious Statesman; his piercing and original remarks, his shrewd criticisms of men and things, his erudition, his charming raillery, and, above all, his perfect kindness, made this visit delightful; but I think the morning I sat with him in December, after my return from Canada and the West, was more memorable still, for I knew the country and the people more intimately, and was able to enter more fully into his political explanations, and his spirited anecdotes. From these two interviews and my intermediate travels to the Mississippi and the Western States, there arose a whimsical report that I was a spy in the employ of Sir Robert Peel! and that the little Doctor, with his delicate health, was a mere ruse de guerre. I was once asked by a party in the railroad, "What remuneration Sir Robert gave me?" The question was demanded in a sort of doubting earnest that was irresistibly droll. The period of both visits and excursion was propitious for this amusing delusion; the Oregon Question being then (December 15th) before Congress.

The pamphlet published by Mr. Gallatin, on this subject, is one of the most interesting essays I have ever read, and it derives a higher claim to admiration from the circumstances under which it was written. To America is presented in its pages the last tribute probably which can ever be offered to her acceptance by the devoted and venerable son of her adoption—by her Statesman ancient of days; it breathes his parting wishes, conveys his latest benediction to the land which his talents have eminently served in public life, and his virtues have adorned in private. Nor is it less valuable for its research, extent of knowledge, and concentration of argument, than for the calm and dignified tone of feeling and moderation which it displays; throughout the laws of humanity prevail. It is an effort of patriotism worthy of him whose early personal sacrifices for

the sake of justice are known to all. "I had been a pioneer in collecting facts and stating the case."- "An aged man, who for the last thirty years has been detached from party politics, and who has now nothing whatever to hope or to fear from the world, has no merit in seeking only the truth, and acting an independent part."

Mr. Gallatin is by birth a native of Switzerland, and fled from his country in early life on account of his attachment to liberal principles; he first landed in Boston, and struggled with various pecuniary difficulties, to which he accommodated himself with the independence of the Swiss, and the happy philosophy of the French. In America, talent and good conduct never fail of obtaining their reward; the abilities of Mr. Gallatin were soon discovered; he married advantageously; by his sagacity he was enabled materially to improve his fortune, and while yet in the prime of life, scarcely forty years of age,* he had risen to confidential and pre-eminent posts in the Administration of the Federal Government. By Mr. Jefferson and Mr. Madison he was held in the highest estimation; his versatility of mental gifts rendered him peculiarly useful, and his financial talents were of the highest order. Mr. Jefferson said of Mr. Gallatin, "that he should not be measured by the standard applied to other men," so highly did he value his ability.

In 1813, Mr. Gallatin was appointed one of the Commissioners sent to Europe to negotiate the Peace with Great Britain. The Treaty was concluded at Ghent, in 1814. In appearance Mr. Gallatin is European; his figure is tall and thin; his manner full of vivacity; he speaks rapidly, and evidently many thoughts while in conversation rush into his head which he has not even time to utter; his eye still sparkles, and his countenance is full of spirit. When I saw him in winter, he wore a black velvet cap which was very characteristic, and black velvet slippers. His son and grandson were present besides myself and son; two gentlemen waited upon him on business, and his Amanuensis sat at his side. Finding him occupied I would have retired, but he would on no account permit this, and he proceeded to converse with us all in turn on affairs of amusement or business, occasionally to dictate to the Amanuensis, and occasion

* In 1793 we find him returned as a Senator by the State of Pennsylvania, and pronounced disqualified on the ground that he had not been a citizen a sufficient time to enable him to hold a seat in the Senate. He was then thirtythree, and had sought refuge in the United States from persecution, fortuneless and friendless.

ally to find a little fault with the writing; and, finally, when I was left alone with him he spoke almost incessantly for two hours on every variety of subject, with all the wit, and learning, and spirit imaginable. He paid me one of the most graceful compliments I have ever received. After hearing how much I had been gratified by my visit to the West, and how I had found all America "couleur de rose," he gently alluded to my romance, as he had done the day before in the very elegant note, which I cannot resist the pleasure of transcribing below. "I believe," said he, "you possess and practice the very best romance in the world, that of making the best of every thing.' 'My dear Madam,-Was I not confined by an obstinate cold, I would do myself the pleasure to wait on you.

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"To-morrow (Saturday) two gentlemen will call upon me on business, at twelve o'clock. With that single exception, you will find me at home on any day, and at any hour that may suit your convenience; and I need not say how much I will be gratified by your kind intended visit.

"I am happy to hear that you were pleased with your late journey through the United States. Yet, although we enjoy most solid advantages, and, as I think, a greater mass of happiness diffused through all the classes than is to be found anywhere else, I have not discovered much romance in America; and I suspect, or, as a Yankee, I guess, that you brought it with you.

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Please to accept the assurances of my high regard, and believe me to be, with great respect,

"My dear Madam,

"Your obedient and faithful servant,

"57, Bleeker-street, 12th December, 1845.

"MRS. W. MAURY."

"ALBERT GALLATIN.

The above is beautifully written in a fair Italian hand, the letters being generally disconnected.

"The English are proud," observed Mr. Gallatin, "the French are vain; the Americans have somewhat both of pride and vanity."

* Once, in England, walking home with a friend from a party, we were caught in a violent hail storm; I laughed; "this," said my companion, "is kissing the dew drops from the lion's mane." I do not think that Belinda received from her poet prettier thoughts than these, and whenever I am disposed to repine, I recollect them, and I do " make the best of every thing."

"It is the most difficult thing in the world to persuade statesmen and governments to do nothing. Neither America nor England should have said anything about Oregon. The letters of Mr. Buchanan have greatly the advantage. I have abstained from entering into the discussion until all should have been said on both sides.

"I have learned the Spanish language very often, and as often forgotten it. Once acquire a language fundamentally,

and you may easily resume it."

The discoveries in Yucatan interested Mr. Gallatin extremely; he showed me Catherwood's plates, and spoke in high terms both of that gentleman and of Mr. Stephens, whom I had afterwards the pleasure of seeing at Albany. Mr. Gallatin's "Notes on the semi-civilized Nations of Mexico, Yucatan and Central America" are considered to possess the highest merit.

The lot of Mr. Gallatin, in spite of exile, has been singularly fortunate; to have been an active and successful participator in the permanent establishment of the republican principles which originally caused his banishment; and thus to have assisted in rearing a new and noble edifice on the very foundations which had, in his native country, slipped from beneath his feet, has been the allotted destiny of few. Sprung from the same soil with that extraordinary body of men denominated the "French school of philosophers," Mr. Gallatin possesses all their love of liberty and their elegant acquirements, combined with practical good sense and spotless morality; he is a perfect specimen of the union of American and European character in the same individual. The republican of Switzerland found beyond the Atlantic a sphere in which his conceptions were realized, and his doctrines reduced to practice. He has been happier far than the early promulgators of the free political creed; for his life has been extended long enough to satisfy him that the liberty he so loved was no chimera; that it already constitutes the happiness of millions, and that it is advancing progressively under the wide-spread banner of reform in every country of the world, both savage and civilized; and though he leaves his ashes in a land which is not that of his birth, still it has long been that of his most cherished household gods. As a citizen he is highly esteemed and respected; and though he mingles less frequently in society than he did in years gone by, the privileged few are still charmed to find how lightly time lays his finger on that honoured brow. Mrs. Madison gave me a