Thus ended the administration of Mr. Polk. To say that it was an able one, would be but feeble praise. It was more important than any which had intervened between it and the administration of Mr. Madison. It was full of great events. The settlement of the Oregon Question, the war with Mexico, and the acquisition of California, will cause it to be long remembered. Ages hence, if the God of nations shall continue to smile upon our favored land, the dweller on the banks of the Mississippi, as he gazes on the mighty current that laves his feet, and beholds it reaching forth, like a giant, its hundred arms, and gathering the produce of that noble valley into its bosom, will bless the name of THOMAS JEFFERSON. So, too, the citizen of California or Oregon, when he sees their harbors filled with stately argosies, richly-freighted with golden sands, or with the silks and spices of the Old World, will offer his tribute, dictated by a grateful heart, to the memory of JAMES K. Polk. At home, his administration was well conducted. Though the war with Mexico was actively prosecuted for a period of nearly two years, the national debt was not largely or oppressively increased, and the pecuniary credit of the government was at all times maintained; more than double the premiums realized in the war of 1812, being procured for stock and treasury notes. Commerce, agriculture, and every art and occupation of industry, flourished during this period; happiness and prosperity dwelt in every habitation. In the management of our foreign relations, ability, skill, and prudence, were displayed. Our rights were respected; our honor defended; and our national character elevated still higher in the estimation of foreign governments and their people. CHAPTER XI. Return to Tennessee-Speech at Richmond-Arrival Home-Prospects for the Future-Vanity of Human Hopes and Expectations-His DeathFuneral Honors-Personal Appearance and Character-Conclusion. IF Mr. Polk was gratified with the enthusiastic demonstrations of regard that attended him on his journey to Washington in the spring of 1845, to enter upon the duties of his administration, he was far more sincerely pleased, with the kindly greetings that everywhere welcomed him as he returned to his home in Tennessee. The one might have been selfish, for he had then office and patronage to bestow; but the other was the genuine homage of the heart; a voluntary offering to the man, and not to the President. At Richmond, he was complimented with a public reception by the citizens, and the Legislature of Virginia, which was then in session. In reply to an eloquent address from the Speaker of the House of Delegates, the ex-President returned his hearty thanks for the high honor accorded to him by the legislature of a State for which he cherished the most profound veneration, and from whose political apostles he had imbibed his appreciation of the great principles of constitutional liberty. He was, he said, taken by surprise at the manner of his reception; and to be thus received, when he had just laid down power, and was no longer clothed with the patronage of the government, filled him with gratitude. He felt proud, too, that he was "no more a servant of the people, but had become a sovereign." He spoke, also, of the greatness of the country, and of the value and importance of the Union. "Preserve this union," he declared," and the march of our country in prosperity and greatness will be rapid beyond comparison, and her ripened glory will surpass that of ancient Rome, the mistress of the world." At Wilmington, North Carolina, the people of his native state came together in crowds, to welcome him. Extensive preparations had been made for his reception, and in replying to the orator who addressed him, he said: "You remark truly, sir, that I still cherish affection for my native state. I receive its welcome as the blessing of an honored parent. North Carolina can boast of glorious reminiscences, and is entitled to rank with, or far above, many who make greater pretensions. It was from her-her counties of Mecklenburg, New Hanover, and Bladen, that the news of treason in the colonies first went to the ears of the British monarch, and here was the spirit of independence first aroused.” At Charleston, Savannah, and New Orleans-at every place where he paused upon his route-welcomes and congratulations were liberally showered upon his head; and prayers and blessings innumerable attended him, like ministering angels, to the home from which he had gone forth in early manhood to carve out his destiny, and to which he now returned, with the harvest of fame he had gathered. Previous to his return to Tennessee, Mr. Polk had purchased the mansion and grounds formerly belonging to his friend and preceptor, Mr. Grundy, and situate in the heart of the city of Nashville. Here, surrounded by the comforts and conveniences which an ample fortune enabled him to procure,-in the sweet companionship of his wife, of books, and of the friends whom he loved and esteemed, he determined to pass the remainder of his days in ease and retirement, fulfilling his duty to himself and to the world, but not entering again into public life. He had discovered, from his own experience, that an aching heart was the price of a diadem," and he longed to enjoy the quiet and tranquillity which seemed to woo him with their smiles. His constitution appeared to be unimpaired; a life of strict temperance, approaching to abstemiousness, seemed to promise a continuance of health for many years; and nearly one-third of man's allotted pilgrimage was yet before him. 66 But the hopes and expectations of man are like the mists of the morning,-as empty and as fleeting. No rank or station-no honor or reputation-no talents or advantages-can protect him from his destiny. "The statesman's fame Will fade, the conqueror's laurel crown grow sear; The year 1849 will not be soon forgotten in the valley of the Mississippi; but the fearful ravages of the Asiatic cholera, which it witnessed, will be long remembered in sorrow and pain. On his way up the Mississippi from New Orleans, in the month of March, Mr. Polk had suf fered considerably from diarrhoea; but the use of medicine, and a proper attention to regimen, checked the attack, and it seemed entirely to pass off, leaving him in apparent good health. He was somewhat enervated, however, by the fatigue consequent upon his journey, and the acknowledgment of the kind civilities extended to him; and when he arrived at Nashville, his whole system was enfeebled. "Having taken up his abode here," says one of his friends and neighbors, "he gave himself up to the improvement of his grounds, and was seen every day about his dwelling, aiding and directing the workmen he had employed; now overlooking a carpenter, now giving instructions to a gardener, often attended by Mrs. Polk, whose exquisite taste constituted the element of every improvement. It is not a fortnight since I saw him on his lawn, directing some men who were removing decaying cedars. I was struck with his erect and healthful bearing, and the active energy of his manner, which gave promise of long life. His flowing gray locks alone made him appear beyond the middle-age of life. He seemed in full health. The next day being rainy, he remained within, and began to arrange his large library; and the labor of reaching books from the floor and placing them on the shelves, brought on fatigue and slight fever, which the next day assumed the character of disease in the form of chronic diarrhoea, which was with him a complaint of many years' standing, and readily induced upon his system by any over-exertion. "For the first three days, his friends felt no alarm. But the disease baffling the skill of his physicians, Dr. |