of the Union. A procession was formed from his hotel quarters to the capitol. The President-elect was mounted upon a white charger, accompanied by several personal friends, but his immediate escort were the officers and soldiers who had fought under him. The inaugural address was delivered on a

platform erected over the front steps of the portico of the east front of the capitol. The oath of office was administered by Chief-Justice Taney, before an audience estimated at 60,000 people.

He was a man of pure life and earnest character, and the certainty of a change of policy in the measures of the federal government had caused

the people of the country to look forward to his administration with hope and confidence. He began by calling to seats in his cabinet men of prominence and ability. At the head of the cabinet he placed Daniel Webster as Secretary of State. The President was not destined to fulfil the hopes of his friends. He was suddenly attacked with pneumonia, and died on the 4th of April-just one month after his inauguration.

It was the first time that a President of the United States had died in office, and a gloom was cast over the nation by the sad event. The mourning of the people was sincere, for in General Harrison the nation lost a faithful, upright, and able leader. He had spent forty years in prominent public positions, and had discharged every duty confided to him with ability and integrity, and went to his grave a poor man.

The office of President now, for the first time, devolved upon the Vice-President, John Tyler, who, by the death of General Harrison, became the tenth President of the United States. He was not in the City of Washington at the time of the death of his predecessor, but repaired to that city without loss of time, upon being notified of the death of General Harrison, and on the 6th of April took the oath of office before Judge Cranch, Chief-Justice of the District of Columbia. Mr. Tyler was in his fifty-second year, and had served as governor of Virginia, and as representative and senator in Congress from

that State. On the 9th of April President Tyler issued an address to the people of the United States, in which there was no indication of a departure from the policy announced in the inaugural of General Harrison. He retained the cabinet ministers of his predecessors in their respective positions.

The last years of Mr. Tyler's administration were devoted to the effort to secure the annexation

of the republic of Texas to the United States. The territory embraced within the limits of Texas constituted a part of the Spanish-American possessions, and was generally regarded as a part of Mexico.

In April, 1844, Texas formally applied for admission into the United States, and a treaty for that purpose was negotiated with her by the gov

ernment of this country. It was rejected by the Senate.

In the fall of 1844 the presidential election took place. The leading political question of the day was the annexation of Texas. It was advocated by the administration of President Tyler and by the Democratic party. This party also made the claim of the United States to Oregon one of the leading issues of the campaign. Its candidates were James K. Polk, of Tennessee, and George M. Dallas, of Pennsylvania. The Whig party supported Henry Clay, of Kentucky, and Theodore Frelinghuysen, of New Jersey, and opposed the annexation of Texas.

During this campaign, which was one of unusual excitement, the Anti-slavery party made its appearance for the first time as a distinct political organization, and nominated James G. Birney as its candidate for the Presidency.

The result of the campaign was a decisive victory for the Democrats. This success was generally regarded as an emphatic expression of the popular will respecting the Texas and Oregon questions.

The result of the election by the colleges was: 170 electoral votes for James K. Polk, for President, and 170 for George M. Dallas, for Vice-President; 105 for Henry Clay, for President, and 105 for Theodore Frelinghuysen, for Vice-President. By States the vote stood: 15 for the Democratic ticket, and 11 for the Whig ticket. Mr. Birney

received no electoral vote; but local returns showed that, out of the popular vote of upwards of two and a half millions, there were polled for him only 64,653. The fifteen States that voted for Mr. Polk were: Maine, New Hampshire, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, South Carolina, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Indiana, Illinois, Alabama, Missouri, Arkansas, and Michigan; the eleven that voted for Mr. Clay were: Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Vermont, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, North Carolina, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Ohio.

After the expiration of his term of office, Mr. Tyler retired from the seat of Government to his residence in Virginia. His administration was a stormy one, but signalized by many important events. It was during this period that the electrotelegraphic system was established by Morse. A room was furnished him at the Capitol for his experimental operations in extending his wires to Baltimore; and among the first messages ever transmitted over them was the announcement of the nomination of Mr. Polk for the Presidency.

ADMINISTRATION OF JAMES K. POLK.

4th of March, 1845-4th of March, 1849. James K. Polk, the eleventh President of the United States, was inaugurated on the 4th of March, 1845, in the 50th year of his age. The oath of office was administered by Chief-Justice