Address of the Clergy and President's Answer, DOVER reception there and address of Citizens, 217 Lake Ontario-Capt. CHAUNCEY-Fleets, &c. SACKETT'S HARBOUR-notice of that place, A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF THE LIFE OF JAMES MONROE, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. BIOGRAPHY and HISTORY Occupy an important department in the libraries of gentlemen, soholars, and statesmen. By the one, the reader becomes acquainted with the illustrious characters who have imparted glory to their native countries, and who have secured to themselves imperishable honour. By the other, he traces the progress of events which have elevated different countries to the acme of human glory, or sunk them to the lowest depths of degradation. The AMERICAN REPUBLIC has, for the last half century, been the theatre of events, and the nursery of men, the history of which, and the lives of whom, would have added lustre to the most brilliant pages of ancient or modern history. The impressive ejaculation of an inspired penman-" Our fathers, where are they?" may well be repeated by Americans in the nineteenth century. The members of the OLD CONGRESS, ("I name them fill'd with solemn awe") are, the most of them, reaping the reward of their patriotic labours in eternity. But how little does the rising generation know of their gigantic labours, and their splendid talents? We enjoy the rich legacy they bestowed upon their country; but their memories are almost obliterated by B the admiration excited by their successors, and the astonishment occasioned by succeeding events. Had America had her Plutarch, it would not have been so. Instead of devoting attention to the men and the events of ancient time, the youth of our Republic would be enraptured while they hung, with assiduous devotion, upon the pages that recorded the labours of their grandsires in the cabinet, and their exploits in the field. The unceasing industry and exalted talents of a MARSHALL, has preserved to Americans the memory of their great political father, GEORGE WASHINGTON. The unrivalled genius of a WIRT has embalmed the memory of PATRICK HENRY. It is from such scholars, that we may hope hereafter to be gratified with a Biography of JAMES MONROE, President of the United States. It must be the history of his country, during the long period of his active life, and various official stations, for they are identified with each other. It is with the deepest solicitude, that I attempt a mere sketch of the life of this great man. That the sources from which I have derived the information I possess upon this subject, so deeply interesting to the citizens of our Republic, are authentic, I have the most confident reliance. JAMES MONROE, the fifth President of the United States, was born in the county of Westmoreland, in the state of Virginia, and upon the banks of the Potomac, in the year 1759. A century and an half previous, his ancestor migrated to the Western world, and was the original grantee of the soil upon which his illustrious descendant was born. He was educated at the ancient University of William and Mary. His residence in |