own memorable events, where courage, and constancy, and patriotism devoted themselves nobly and generously to the cause of their country, in the days of her trial and danger. Your State contains its full share of these sacred spots, and not the least interesting is in your own vicinity. The stream which gives beauty to the landscape around, and which now flows through a peaceful and prosperous region, once saw the advance of a Christian banner, surrounded by civilized and savage forces, prepared to do those deeds of horror which, we may trust, will never again desolate our frontiers. The great lakes which stretch along your borders have been the scenes of desperate conflicts; and even now, as the traveler proceeds up Lake Erie, he points to its western islands as the Greek patriot points to the Gulf of Salamis; to the place where the lamented Perry gained his victory with Spartan courage and made his report with Spartan brevity. There no monument can be erected, in its freshness to gratify our pride, nor in its decay to hallow our recollections. The waves roll, and will roll, over it; but whoever passes by with no kindling emotion, no desire to recall the glorious story, nor to associate its incidents with the islands and shores around him, no determination to follow the bright example of those who there triumphed in life and death, let him distrust his own heart, and let his country distrust him."

The attendance of the Alumni of Hamilton College on this occasion was numerous; and in the evening, Gerrit Smith, president, in the chair, they unanimously passed the following resolutions :

"Resolved, That the thanks of the Association be presented to His Excellency Governor Cass, for the able and eloquent address this day delivered by him.

"Resolved, That Governor Cass be requested to furnish a copy of the address for publication.

"Resolved, That Theodore S. Gold, Charles P. Kirkland, and Samuel D. Darkin, be a committee to communicate the preceding resolutions to Governor Cass."

As a further token of respect, he subsequently received from Hamilton College the honorary degree of LL.D.

CHAPTER XV.

General Cass resigns the Office of Governor-President Jackson invites General Cass to the Head of the War Department-His Acceptance-Public Demonstration at Detroit-Address of Major Biddle in behalf of People of Michigan-The Reply-The Congratulations.

In July, 1831, General Cass resigned his office as Governor of Michigan. He had administered the government for a period of nearly eighteen years, with signal ability. He had been appointed six times, - running through the presidency of Mr. Madison, Mr. Monroe, and John Quincy Adams, without a single representation against him from the people in all that time, or a single vote against him in the Senate. Our territorial history contains no similar mark of confidence. As his first appointment in 1813 was wholly unexpected, so was each renewal entirely unsolicited. In fact, his administration was conducted with so much wisdom, and gave such universal satisfaction to the people, that they regarded his continuance as a matter of course. He had faithfully discharged the duties of his Indian Superintendency, of a wider circuit of country than any man before or since has had under his direction, commencing with over forty thousand Indians, and quite nine thousand warriors. He had concluded nineteen treaties with the Indians, and acquired large cessions in Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin, to an amount equal, perhaps, to one-fourth part of the area of those States, and each productive of important results to the government. In all their villages, his name was familiar; and, in all his transactions with this wandering, peculiar race of people, he acted with a just and enlightened regard for their interests, and took good care that they should not suffer wrong. No treaty negotiated by him was ever rejected by the Senate, nor was a representation ever made against one of them by the Indians—a rare occurrence, and one which is no doubt owing to the great fairness and justice of the proceeding. He was often pained to listen to their tales of suffering, resulting from the avarice of the trader, and frequently interposed the executive arm, to shield them from

imposition. He had been to them, indeed, what he professed, as the representative of the government, namely, their father. So they regarded him, and so they meant, when, in addressing him, they gave him that title. Consequently, his influence was unbounded; and, by not using that influence for personal purposes, he retained their confidence and friendship. Had not this been the case, he would have fallen far short of accomplishing so much good for the benefit of his country. He has had more official business with the Indians than any other man. Soon an adept in his knowledge of their character, he knew how to comport himself, as we have seen, on any occasion and emergency. Prompt and punctual in all his engagements with them, it all resulted to the good of the people. When he began his administration, he found the country small in white population, without resources, and in a deplorable state; the devastations of war were felt and seen in all directions: he left it with a widespread population, and thriving with unrivaled prosperity.

One other illustrative fact may be worth narrating, as it shows the difficulties which beset his intercourse with the Indians, arising out of their peculiar opinions. To deceive the whites is a most justifiable action, in the estimation of the Indians; very little dependence can be placed upon their statements when they have the least temptation to deceive. In the Lake Superior country, in 1820, General Cass was traveling with an interpreter and one or two other white men and some Indians. Ascending a hill, they suddenly came upon a large bear, which had been caught in a trap, a heavy log, slightly held up, and with a bait, by touching which it falls. The bear was held by his hind legs, but was very strong and ferocious. One of the Indians immediately shot him in the head; and as soon as he had done so, and ascertained that he was dead, he walked up to him, and taking him by the paw, he shook it, exclaiming,-"It was not me that killed you; it was those white men." The Indians have some superstitious notion attached to the killing of a bear, fearing that under some circumstances, when he knows who occasioned his death, he will disturb his hunting-grounds in those regions where they think bears and Indians must all finally go. The fearlessness of assertion, which belongs to Indian character, was strongly manifested in this contradiction of the truth, made at the very moment of his own action.

Andrew Jackson had entered upon the duties of the Presidency of the United States on the fourth of March, 1829. As his measures-especially upon the subject of the tariff, internal improvements and finance-would differ from those of his immediate, predecessor, he called around him a new list of cabinet counsellors, and the former heads of Departments retired from office with Mr. Adams. This new cabinet was selected from among the many distinguished men who had supported the claims of General Jackson in the presidential contest of 1828, and all were members of that political party which, by common consent, was called the Democratic, having, for its immutable base, the governmental doctrines enunciated by Mr. Jefferson thirty years before. It had been reported in many of the newspapers, that the cabinet of his predecessor had not harmonized upon all questions; and to avoid collisions of sentiment, as well as to give his country the benefit of measures emanating from many minds, but united in one, General Jackson resolved, at the outset, that his cabinet must be a unit. With this view, the States of New York, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, and Kentucky, furnished his counsellors. Martin Van Buren, who had been inaugurated Governor on the first of January previous, came from New York, and took charge of the State Department. The foreign relations of our country were in an unsettled condition; and to be managed with national propriety and honor, great address and unremitting labor were requisite. There were many complicated questions with the British government to be adjusted; and the new Secretary of State diligently endeavored to execute the task. After the lapse of several months, as well for the purpose of closing these open questions more speedily as to dissipate the mist which, quite unnecessarily, seemed to shroud the domestic relations of many of the officers of government, Mr. Van Buren, in the winter of 1831, resigned the port-folio of State, and was appointed Minister to London. This vacancy disturbed the equilibrium of the cabinet as originally cast, and the other members, with the exception of Mr. Barry, resigned. It, therefore, became necessary for the President to form a new cabinet, but its re-construction was not completed until the August following.

General Jackson was aware that much was expected from him by a large majority of the American people; and that it was an

imperative duty to call around him the ablest talent, united to long tried experience. He had favorably known General Cass since 1806. He had aided Mr. Jefferson in the south-west, the same as General Cass had done in the north-west. He had defended New Orleans, when General Cass was defending Detroit. The former had fought in the war of 1812 in the south-west, while the latter sustained the flag of the nation in the region of the lakes. And although since then, General Cass had been withdrawn from the arena of party politics outside of his Territory, yet his political sentiments were well known.

The President was pre-eminent over his cotemporaries in his ready perception of the character and capacity of others; and believing, undoubtedly, that General Cass' mind and experience would be of paramount service, he called him to the head of the War Department. The invitation was accepted, and General Cass entered upon his new duties in August, 1831. With him was associated in this new cabinet, Edward Livingston, of Louisiana, in the State Department; Louis McLane, of Maryland, in the Treasury; Levi Woodbury, of New Hampshire, in the Navy; Mr. Barry, of Kentucky, as Postmaster-General; and Roger B. Taney, of Maryland, as Attorney-General. All these gentlemen. had been in public life, and were eminent for their business capacities, integrity, and devotion to the Union.

But the people of Michigan, over whom he had presided for so many years, regretted the separation: they preferred, for themselves, that he should continue with them. He commenced his official career with them, when gloom covered the land: among them he had lived and associated through many a trying year, and had served them in the triple capacity of ruler, adviser, and friend; and they were adverse to the severance of this personal and political connexion. The invitation to join the venerable patriot at Washington was equally unexpected to them and him; and General Cass, it is almost needless to add, fully appreciated the responsibilities of this new position. Yet, the same sense of duty which induced him, in 1813, to exchange the comforts of a civilized home in Ohio, for the hazards and privations of frontier life in Michigan, now prompted him to obey the voice of his country, through her Chief Magistrate, summoning him to a more elevated and extended sphere of action.

His fellow-citizens, however, were unwilling that he should go