State upon her public functionaries, which they are not at liberty to disregard. Under the deep conviction that these are subjects of general and pervading interest to the whole people of the State, I shall regard it to be my duty to lend my aid in executing the injunctions of the Constitution in a liberal spirit. No objects are, in my judgment, more worthy of the public patronage and support.

The preservation of public credit, and of a sound currency in the State, will undoubtedly be among our highest duties. It is a prevailing error to suppose that a multiplication of banks, and an excessive issue of paper circulation, can advance the public prosperity, or afford any permanent relief to the community in which they exist. Instead of a blessing, excessive banking generally proves to be a curse. The bloated state of apparent prosperity which they temporarily excite, our experience has shown, has invariably been followed by derangement of the money market, depreciation of the currency, and finally by severe pressure and suffering inflicted on the people. To prevent the recurrence of such a state of things, it will be my desire, by all the constitutional and legal restrictions which can be thrown around them, to see that the banks which may exist in the State, shall be based upon a solid foundation, and confine their operations within their reasonable means to meet their responsibilities promptly. I will, at an early day, avail myself of an appropriate occasion to make to the General Assembly of the State, now in session, a communication touching subjects which may seem to require legislative action at their present session.

It will be my duty, under the Constitution of the State, to "take care that the laws be faithfully executed." The Executive is vested with no legislative discretion or power. The laws which the General Assembly shall pass, it is made his duty to execute, even though he may differ in opinion with that branch of the State Government in regard to

their wisdom or policy. This duty I shall faithfully perform.

Relying confidently upon the support of my fellow-citizens, and invoking the aid and guidance of the Supreme Ruler of the Universe, in whose hands are the destinies of government, and of men, I enter upon the discharge of the high duties which have been assigned me by the people.

By the amended constitution of Tennessee, provision was made for such works of internal improvement as the geographical position of the state rendered necessary; and in his first regular message, delivered to the two houses of the General Assembly on the 22d of October, 1839, Governor Polk advised the "vigorous prosecution of a judicious system of improvements," and that "a board of public works, to be composed of two or more competent and scientific men, should be authorized, and their duties established by law."

In the same message he recommended the revision of the laws prohibiting the practice of betting on elections, which, he says, "begets excitement and engenders strife; and it but too often happens, that those who have stakes at hazard, become more interested to secure them, than by a dispassionate exercise of the right of suffrage, to secure the public good."

of unwise or irresponsible issues of paper money, or paper credits intended for circulation as money, he was always jealous; and in his second regular message to the legislature, in 1841, he advised "a revision of the laws prohibiting the issuance of change tickets or small paper bills, by individuals and corporations other than banks," for the reason, as stated by him, that "some of

the internal improvement companies in which the state was a copartner," had issued "small paper bills in the form of scrip or checks, and put them into circulation as money, without any specie basis upon which to rest, and without authority of law."

The administration of the state government by Mr. Polk was satisfactory to the public, and his course as chief magistrate was well calculated to harmonize the party of which, by the death of his old friend and preceptor, Mr. Grundy, in 1840, he had become the acknowledged head. He did not have occasion, while filling the office of governor, to endorse any of the great principles of the democratic party, except in his inaugural address; nor were any important measures of state policy adopted under his particular auspices.

Unlike the executives of other states, the Governor of Tennessee possesses no veto power; neither has he the authority to commute the punishment of capital offenders to imprisonment for life. The cares and responsibilities of the executive are therefore comparatively light; and as the legislature meets only once in two years, the duties are much less laborious than where the laws to be executed are constantly being changed or repealed.

The term of office of Mr. Polk expired in October, 1841, but at the August election of that year, he was again a candidate. His prospects of defeat could hardly be considered doubtful; inasmuch as the whirlwind, which had prostrated the democratic party in 1840 throughout the Union, had swept over the State of Tennessee with irresistible force. The Harrison electoral ticket had succeeded by more than twelve thousand majority, To

overcome this heavy vote was impossible; but Mr. Polk entered upon the canvass with his accustomed spirit and energy. His competitor was James C. Jones, a most effective speaker, and decidedly the most popular man at that time in the whig party of the state.

Personal good feeling on the part of the opposing candidates characterized this contest, as it had that of 1839. Mr. Polk frankly and cordially met Mr. Jones on the stump and travelled in company with him; and, it is said, they slept in the same bed on one occasion. But all the efforts of Mr. Polk proved unavailing. The politics of the state were for the time firmly fixed in opposition to his own. He was defeated, but in his defeat achieved a triumph, by the reduction of the whig majority to about three thousand. In 1843 he was once more a candidate in opposition to Governor Jones, but the latter was reëlected by nearly four thousand majority.

CHAPTER VII.

Presidential Canvass of 1844-The Texas Question-Letter of Mr. Polk to the Citizens of Cincinnatti-The Baltimore Convention-Nomination of Mr. Polk-His Acceptance-Resolutions of the Convention-The Election-Reception at Nashville-Journey of the President Elect to Washington-His Inauguration-Address.

On leaving the executive chair of Tennessee, Mr. Polk returned, without a single murmur or feeling of regret, to private life. Its peace and tranquillity, its happiness and content, its calm and sweet pleasures, were congenial to his disposition and his tastes. Fortune had not showered wealth upon him with a lavish hand; nor had he ever taken advantage of the frequent opportunities presented to him, to enrich himself by speculation. Festina lente—“ make haste slowly"—was his motto in the studies and pursuits of his youth, and in the occupations of maturer years. He possessed a competence-all that he needed or desired-which enabled him to be liberal in the bestowment of his charities, and to dispense a generous hospitality to his numerous friends. And more than all, and above all, there dwelt by his fireside a ministering angel, whose virtues and graces made his home a paradise of joys.

But a politician, like a revolution, can rarely go backward. As a combatant who entered the lists at the Olympian Games could not retire without dishonor, so