May I hope the

"I propose," he says, "to take the oath or oaths. of office as President of the United States on Wednesday, the 4th instant, at twelve o'clock, in the senate-chamber. favor of your attendance to administer the oath. Not being yet provided with a private secretary, and needing some person on Wednesday to be the bearer of a message or messages to the Senate, I presume the chief clerk of the Department of State might be employed with propriety. Permit me through you to ask the favor of his attendance on me at my lodgings on Wednesday, after I shall have been qualified."

This is all very simple and republican. We are used to it now; but at that day it was new, strange, and captivating. An English gentleman, who was then passing some days in Washington, recorded in his diary a few particulars of this occasion, of much interest. The president-elect, he says, was dressed in plain cloth, which was very unusual at that time, as we may see in old portraits. He came out of his lodgings unattended, and mounted his horse, which had been waiting for him before his door. He rode to the capitol, unaccompanied by any friend, and without a servant, and when he had reached the building he dismounted without assistance, and with his own hands tied the horse to a paling of the fence. He was received at the steps of the capitol by a large number of his political friends, who absolutely would not permit him to carry out his intention of going alone to the senate-chamber to take the oath of office. A kind of procession was formed, and they walked together to the apartment.

When the president-elect was seen at the door, the audience rose and saluted him with the heartiest cheers. Colonel Burr left the chair usually occupied by the president of the Senate, and took his seat in another at the right. On the left of the central chair sat the chief-justice. Every one remarked the absence of the late president from the scene. After the delay of a minute or two, Mr. Jefferson rose and delivered that fine inaugural address which is still so cheering and instructive to read. Several phrases and sentences of this address have

passed into proverbs. One of the most noted passages was the following:

ee

Every difference of opinion is not a difference of principle. We have called by different names brethren of the same principle. We are all Republicans-we are all Federalists. If there be any among us who would wish to dissolve this Union, or to change its republican form, let them stand undisturbed, as monuments of the safety with which error of opinion may be tolerated where reason is left free to combat it."

Another happy touch was this:

Sometimes it is said that man cannot he trusted with the government of himself. Can he then be trusted with the government of others? Or have we found angels in the form of kings to govern him? Let history answer the question."

The following phrase has passed into common speech, and .ought forever to guide the diplomacy of America :

"Peace, commerce, and honest friendship with all nationsentangling alliances with none."

The following passage produced an excellent effect at the

time:

"I shall often go wrong through defect of judgment. When right I shall often be thought wrong by those whose positions will not command a view of the whole ground. I ask your indulgence for my own errors, which will never be intentional, and your support against the errors of others, who may condemn what they would not if seen in all its parts."

At the conclusion of this brief address, which did not occupy more than fifteen minutes, the oath was administered. The assembly then broke up, and the politicians of both parties proceeded to the presidential mansion to make the usual calls upon the president and vice-president.

Instantly, everything in the government which looked like monarchy was abolished. Instead of delivering a speech to Congress, President Jefferson sent a written message. The rule was promulgated that, in society at Washington, — and especially at the president's house, there should be no such thing as precedence, but all persons should stand upon a perfect equality. On two days of the year- the First of January and

the Fourth of July the President received the visit of every man, woman, and child who chose to call upon him; and, at other times, all who had business with him were admitted with no more ceremony or delay than would be ordinarily employed by any man whose business was extensive and whose time was valuable. When the president had occasiou to visit the capitol - which is two miles distant from the presidential mansioninstead of riding thither in a coach-and-six, as previous presidents had done, he went on horseback, unattended, and tied his own horse to a rail when he had reached the building. In more important matters, his administration, I believe to have been among the wisest and the purest the world has ever seen. Without adding any new tax, without a land tax, an excise or a stamp tax, the government was supported properly, and the public debt was diminished seven millions a year. The army and navy were reduced, Louisiana was purchased, and the payment was so arranged that by the time the purchase-money became due the new territory had added the amount to the national treasury. Peace was preserved with all nations, and the credit and character of the republic were perfectly sustained. So satisfied were the people with republican rule, that Mr. Jefferson and his intimate friends continued to preside over the government for a period of twenty-four years. James Madison and James Monroe were pupils of Thomas Jefferson, and heirs of his prestige and popularity.

Retiring from the presidency in 1809, when he was sixty-six years of age, Mr. Jefferson passed the rest of his days upon his plantation at Monticello, the most august, beloved, and venerated character upon the continent of America. He continued to serve the public in various ways, and his last care was to perfect the organization of the University of Virginia, of which he was the founder. To the age of eighty-three he retained his intellectual powers little diminished, and he appears to have died from old age rather than from disease. On the 3d of July, 1826, it was evident to those around him that he had not many hours to live, and there arose within them a great desire that his life might be spared, so that he could die on the day which his own hands had signalized.

"As twelve o'clock at night approached," wrote one of his grandsons, "we anxiously desired that his death should be hallowed by the anniversary of independence. At fifteen minutes before twelve we stood noting the minute-hand of the watch, hoping for a few minutes of prolonged life. At four in the morning, he called the servants in attendance with a strong and clear voice, perfectly conscious of his wants. He did not speak again. About ten he fixed his eyes intently upon me, indicating some want which I could not understand, until his attached servant, Burwell, observed that his head was not so much elevated as he usually desired it, for his habit was to lie with it very much elevated. Upon restoring it to its usual position, he seemed satisfied. About eleven, again fixing his eyes upon me and moving his lips, I applied a wet sponge to his mouth, which he sucked, and appeared to relish. This was the last evidence he gave of consciousness. He ceased to breathe, without a

struggle, fifty minutes past meridian, July 4th, 1826."

So passed from the scene of his earthly labors the man who, in my opinion, was the model American citizen, whose life and writings contain more to instruct and guide his countrymen in the duties of citizenship than those of any other man. His very faults had more of virtue in them than the good deeds of some men. I wish I was rich enough to place a copy of his writings in every school district of the United States.

SIR FRANCIS DRAKE.

-

THINK of a boy of eighteen owning and commanding a ship! This was the case, we are told, with Drake, another of those Heroes of the Sea whose deeds shed such lustre upon the age of Shakespeare and Elizabeth. The ship was small, it is true, and the voyages it made were short; still it was a ship, and it was sailed (successfully, too) by a lad of eighteen. The way it came about was this:

Francis Drake, born on the southern coast of England, about the year 1545, was one of the twelve sons of a chaplain in the navy. The father of this fine family of boys began life as a farmer; but having renounced the Catholic religion, and joined the Church of England, Queen Elizabeth, who liked to encourage such conversions, made a naval chaplain of him, and afterwards gave him a small living on shore. Francis, the eldest of his sons, was educated at the expense of a relative of the family, that valiant seaman, Admiral Sir John Hawkins. It was probably the success and renown of this admiral that induced Francis Drake and most of his brothers to take to the sea.

He did not, however, get into a ship, as the sailors say, through the cabin windows." When he was about twelve years old he was regularly apprenticed to the captain of a small vessel trading with Holland and France, in which he took the place of cabin-boy. The cabin-boy of a ship, in former times, like the youngest apprentice in a shop, was required to do all the odd, disagreeable jobs, such as greasing the mast, washing the dishes, furling the topmost sail, coiling up the ropes, tarring the cable, and feeding the pig. Young Drake performed his duties so well, learned his business so thoroughly, and won the confidence and affection of his captain to such a degree, that the