The sudden and unexpected death of President Harrison threw the whole country into mourning. Much had been hoped from him, as one who had the best interests of every portion of the Union at heart. There was a noble simplicity in his character which had won all hearts. Without being brilliant, his was an intellect of solid, substantial worth. He was a frank, guileless-hearted man, of incorruptible integrity, and stands forth among our Presidents, brief as was his official term, as a noble representative of the plain, practical, honest yeomanry of the land. “Not one single spot," says Abbott, "can be found to sully the brightness of his fame; and through all the ages, Americans will pronounce with love and reverence the name of William Henry Harrison."

Ο

JOHN TYLER.

N the death of General Harrison, April

4th, 1841, for the first time in our history

the administration of the Government devolved on the Vice-President. The gentleman thus elevated to the Presidency was John Tyler, the son of a wealthy landholder of Virginia, at one time Governor of that State. Born in Charles City County, March 29th, 1790, young Tyler, at the age of seventeen, graduated from William and Mary College with the reputation of

having delivered the best commencement oration ever heard by the faculty. When only nineteen he began to practice law, rising to eminence in his profession with surprising rapidity. Two years later he was elected to the Legislature. After serving five successive terms in the Legislature, he was, in 1816, in 1817, and again in 1819, elected to Congress. Compelled by illhealth to resign his seat in Congress, he was, in 1825, chosen Governor of the State. In 1827, he was elected to the United States Senate over the celebrated John Randolph, of Roanoke.

During the whole of his Congressional career, Mr. Tyler was an earnest advocate of the strict construction doctrines of the then Democratic party, opposing the United States Bank, a protective tariff, internal improvements by the General Government, and, in short, all measures tending to the centralization of power. He was also an ardent opponent of any restrictions upon slavery, and avowed his sympathies with the nullification theories of Calhoun. On this last subject he finally came into the opposition against Jackson. In the session of 1833-34, he voted for Clay's resolutions censuring Jackson for his removal of the deposits. In 1836, when the Virginia Legislature instructed its representatives in Congress to vote for the rescinding of these resolutions, Mr. Tyler, who had early committed himself to the right of instruction, could not conscientiously

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comply with the request of the Legislature, nor hold his seat in disregard of its mandate, and accordingly resigned. In 1838, he was again sent to the Legislature, and, in 1839, we find him a delegate to the Whig National Convention, which, at Harrisburg, nominated Harrison and himself as candidates for President and VicePresident. Of the campaign which followed, and of the subsequent death of Harrison, we have already given an account.

On receiving tidings of the President's death, Mr. Tyler hastened to Washington, and, on the 6th of April, was inaugurated, and he retained all the Cabinet officers Harrison had appointed. Three days later, he issued an inaugural address, which was well received, both by the public and by his partisan friends, who, knowing his antecedents, had been somewhat dubious as to what policy he would pursue. But this was only the calm before the storm. Tyler's veto of the bill for a "fiscal bank of the United States," led to a complete rupture with the party by which he had been elected, who charged him with treachery to his principles. Attempting conciliation, he only displeased the Democrats, who had at first shown a disposition to stand by him, without regaining the favor of the Whigs. In consequence of this course of action, Tyler's Cabinet all resigned, and in their places several Democrats were appointed.

During his Administration several very important measures were adopted. Among them the act establishing a uniform system of bankruptcy, passed in 1841, the tariff law of 1842, and the scheme for the annexation of Texas, which, by the vigorous efforts of the President, was brought to a successful issue by the passage of joint resolutions in Congress, on the 1st of March, 1845, just three days before the close of his term. The formal act of annexation, however, was not passed until a later period. One new State-Floridawas also admitted into the Union under Mr. Tyler's Administration, in 1845.

After his retirement from the Presidency, on the 4th of March, 1845, Mr. Tyler remained in private life at his beautiful home of Sherwood Forest, in Charles City County, till, in 1861, he appeared as a member of the Peace Convention, composed of delegates from the "Border States," which met at Washington to endeavor to arrange terms of compromise between the seceded States and the General Government. Of this Convention, which accomplished nothing, he was president.

Subsequently, Mr. Tyler renounced his allegiance to the United States, and was chosen a member of the Confederate Congress. While acting in this capacity he was taken sick at Richmond, where he died after a brief illness, on the 17th of January, 1862.

M

JAMES KNOX POLK.

ECKLENBURG County, North Carolina, has the distinction of being the birthplace of two Presidents of the United States-Andrew Jackson and James Knox Polk-the latter of whom was born there on the 2d of November, 1795. Like his friend and neighbor, General Jackson, Mr. Polk was of Scotch-Irish descent. It was his great-uncle, Colonel Thomas Polk, who, on the 19th of May, 1775, read from the steps of the court-house, at Charlotte, that famous "Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence," to which reference has been made in our sketch of Jefferson. James at a very early age manifested decided literary tastes. After a vain attempt to induce him to become a storekeeper, his father finally consented to his entering the University of North Carolina, at Chapel Hill, from which, in his twenty-third year, he graduated with the highest honors. Studying law at Nashville, Tennessee, where he renewed a former acquaintance with General Jackson, he was admitted to the bar, and commenced practice at Columbia.

In 1823, he was elected to the Legislature of Tennessee, and during the following year was married to Miss Sarah Childress, a beautiful and accomplished young lady, of refined manners and