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a criterion of the talents of the man at the head of public affairs. In proportion to the freedom of the government, does this difficulty increase; for, un- der free governments, it is not only necessary that men of talents should be appointed, but likewise that they should enjoy the confidence of the people, without whose hearty co-operation it is impossible for such a government to be efficient or respected.

When, therefore, the present Chief Magistrate assumed the reigns of government it was with no misapplied solicitude, that the nation looked forward to the designation of these great officers of state. Madison was called to preside over the department of State, Gallatin over the Finances, Dearborn over the War Department, and Smith over that of the Navy; while Lincoln was named Attorney General.

All these men entered office with pure hands, and with a reputation for personal worth, which even suspicion had not dared to impeach. All of them had acted a conspicuous part in the public concerns, and had thus exposed themselves to the severe ordeal of party. During the whole of this fiery trial, inflamed by the rancour and malice of party, however prodigal the reproach cast upon their public conduct, no one laid to their door a single act derogatory of the purest integrity. Men, neither affluent or poor, their deportment was equally free from the arrogance of wealth, or the meanness of poverty, From the humble ground of unassuming citizenship, they had risen to the first distinctions in their respective states by the exertions of their own talents. It is not surprising that the nation, with conspicuous joy, welcomed the induction of such men into office.

It will not be unprofitable to dwell a few moments more on this branch of our subject.

Of all the duties assigned to executive agents those attached to the department of state are the most important. From their peculiar nature they require a mind, not only of the first lustre, but likewise one regulated by habitual prudence. He who discharges them should, moreover, be possessed of the public confidence. A man, more eminently combining these qualifications, was not, perhaps, to be found than Madison. Devoted from his earliest years to the public service he had diligently improved his time by mingling the exercises of the closet with active duties. Unfettered by any profession, and regardless of wealth, the whole vigor of a mind, imbued with great natural acuteness, had been uninterruptedly directed to political researches. Having occupied, for several years, a seat in the old Congress, he was named by his native state a member of the illustrious body that formed the Constitution, under which we now live. In this body, in which many distinguished men were satisfied with the silent co-operation of voting, Madison outstripped all competition. The splendor of this triumph can only be appreciated by recollecting that among his coadjutors were, a Franklin, a Hamilton, a Wilson, a King, and a Dickinson. This superiority arose, no less from the penetration of his genius, the soundness of his judgement and the extensiveness of his informati❤ on, than from the candor of his mind and the con. ciliation of his temper. These attainments earned him a leading agency in the formation of the Constitution, a greater part of which is ascribed to him than to any other member of the body.

It will be recollected that when this constitution appeared it received violent opposition. Among those who met and repelled this opposition Madison was the foremost. His pen and his voice were actively engaged in its defence. In his own state,

he had to contend with the thunder of the most eloquent man of America, supported as it was feared, by a majority of the Convention. The instrument was not without imperfections; they were pointed out; and he had not only the magnanimity to acknowledge, but the patriotism to engage, as far as his influence extended, to have them removed by amendments. Virginia ratified the constitution; as did the necessary number of states. It went into operation. Madison not unmindful of his promise, proposed and carried many of the most important amendments called for by the correct jealousy of the friends of liberty.

After effecting this great object, he participated in all the leading arrangements of the government. The time soon came in which the spirit of party, and with it the spirit of persecution, entered the legislature. He met it at its first onset; and however unable to subdue, he resisted the excesses to which it led. The memorable alien and sedition acts, and the British treaty, found no where a more enlightened or vigorous opponent. Such; however, was the infatuation of those days, that his great efforts, and those of his co-patriots were fruitless; and ambition menaced, by daring steps, the subversion of liberty. He retired from a body unworthy of his virtues and talents; resolved to make one more effort, through the medium of the states, to arrest the impending danger. Every one remembers the celebrated report and resolutions of the Virginia legislature, on the measures of the general government. They are a monument of profound talent and exalted moderation, of firmness tempered by mildness. They excite no turbulent passion, they awaken no narrow pre judice; but dispassionately address the understanding and subdue it by the force of argument and truth. This was the production of Madison.

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Its effects were astonishing: and it is no unjust derogation from the splendid performances that at that period irradiated public opinion, to say this was the most luminous. Having discharged this duty he retired to the tranquil scenes of contemplative and rural life; when the voice of friendship, and the dawn of a new political era called him to a more extensive sphere of usefulness. How he has discharged the duties of his station, will soon appear.

Albert Gallatin was named Secretary of the Treasury. The duties of this station are in some respects scarcely secondary, while in others they are superior to those attached to the Department of State. By the laws establishing the office, the Secretary is required not only to superintend the collection and disbursement of the revenue, but likewise to present such new, or alterations in existing plans, as the public good requires. It will be perceived that this requires a comprehensive knowledge of the resources of the country, united with habits of close application; and in addition to this rare union of qualities a stern integrity. In a government whose chief resource depends upon trade, which itself depends upon our relative situation with the European world, it is essential that the Secretary should superadd to these attainments, a sufficient knowledge of foreign powers, to anticipate the arrangements likely to be adopted by them and their effects upon the United States. For the discharge of these high and complicated duties the President named Albert Gallatin.

This gentleman, it is well known, was born in a foreign land; but it is likewise known that the air he there inhaled was that of liberty. The republic, in whose bosom he was educated, had, for ages, been no less distinguished by the justice of its laws, than the equality of its citizens. of its citizens. Uncon

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taminated by the avaricious passions of trade, the powers of the human mind sought the proud distinctions of science and refined art. Hence this little spot not only rivalled, but surpassed the fame of those small states, which, animated by a Greci an spirit, atchieved those prodigies of valor which were deemed by surrounding nations miraculous. There was, however, this difference between them. While the states of Greece exhausted their ener gies in invading the rights of others, the Swiss Cantons exerted theirs in defending their own. The one therefore, was as much the terror as the other was the admiration of the world.

This was the school in which Gallatin was bred. It was here, that his earliest impressions inspired him with a love of liberty, instructed him in the subordinate estimation in which a virtuous mind should hold wealth, and taught him the value of industrious habits, as the only guardian of inde pendence and true greatness. These were the instructions that prepared the youth for usefulness. At an early period, he was animated by the feelings and views of the man-These at the age of nineteen, before he had formed any political or interested associations, offered to him the new world as a nobler sphere for those intellectual powers, of which he could not have been intirely unconscious. Perhaps, with prophetic sagacity, he pierced the dark cloud that hung over his country, and foresaw its liberty and happiness a prey to foreign violence. Be this, as it may, the first act of manhood was an exchange of his native country for the United States. Here, he was the plain, laborious, and inoffensive citizen. He successively instructed youth, bore arms, and cultivated the soil. No man impeached the regularity of his life, his honesty or his morals. He did not live a stranger among us. He immediately became a citizen, took the oath of

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