The presidential election.

Atlantic telegraph.

Inauguration of Mr. Buchanan.

Democrats nominated James Buchanan, of Pennslyvania. The Republicans (a new party, composed of men of all political creeds opposed to the extension of slavery) nominated Colonel John C. Fremont, of California; and another comparatively new party, called the American or Know-Nothing party, nominated ex-President Fillmore. The canvass was a warm one, and resulted in the election of James Buchannan for President, and John C. Breckinridge, of Kentucky, for Vice-President.

19. Nothing of great importance occurred during the remainder of President Pierce's administration, which ended on the 4th of March, 1857, except an arrangement made by the government of the United States with a com

2. Page 328.

pany, formed in 1856, to connect America and Europe, by way of Newfoundland and Ireland, by a magnetic telegraph cable. The distance, in a direct line, is sixteen hundred miles, and the enterprise is considered perfectly practicable, notwithstanding many impediments, such as strong ocean currents, and great inequalities of surface, are in the way of its success. This, when accomplished, will be one of the most wonderful triumphs of the human mind.

20. At one o'clock on the appointed day, James Buchanan' was inaugurated the fifteenth President of the United States, in the presence of a vast assemblage of his fellowcitizens. Among that large assembly was one who bore a near relationship to the great Washington, and had been present at the inauguration of every chief magistrate of the United States since the formation of the Federal government, in 1789. Two days afterward the Senate confirmed Mr. Buchanan's cabinet appointments,' and the administration now [1857] in progress commenced its work.

21.

And here, on the verge of great

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4. Verse

page

1. Note 5, page 348. 5. James Buchanan was born in Pennsylvania, in April, 1791. He was admitted to the bar in 1828, and He was elected to Congress was a member of the Legislature of his State at the age of twenty-three years. in 182); went to Russia as United States minister in 1831; was elected United States senator in 1833; and became Secretary of State in 1845. He was appointed minister to England in 1853, and in 1856 was chosen President of the United States.

6. George Washington Parke Custis, the grandson of Mrs. Washington, and the adopted son and only surviving executor of Washington.

7. He appointed Lewis Cass, Secretary of State; Howell Cobb, Secretary of the Treasury; John B. Floyd, Secretary of War: Isaac Toncey, Secretary of the Navy: Jacob Thompson, Secretary of the Interior; Aaron V. Brown, Postmaster-General; and Jeremiah S. Black, Attorney-General.

QUESTIONS.-18. What can you tell of parties and the presidential election? 19. What of a great magnetic telegraph cable?

Extent of the United States.

2

What constitutes a State?

events yet to be developed in the Old and New Worlds, we pause in our wonderful story of the discovery,' settlement, and colonization3 of this beautiful land, and the establishment of the noblest republic the world ever saw, covering with the broad ægis of its power a territory as extensive as that of old Rome in her palmiest days, when she was mistress of the world. Let

us not take special pride in the extent and physical grandeur of our beloved country, but endeavor to have our hearts and minds thoroughly penetrated with the glorious thoughts of Alcæus of Mytelene, who asked and answered―

"What constitutes a State?

Not high-raised battlement or labored mound,
Thick wall or moated gate;

Not cities proud, with spires and turrets crowned;
Not bays and broad-armed ports,

Where, laughing at the storms, rich navies ride;
Not starred and spangled courts,

Where low-browed baseness wafts perfume to pride
No: men, high-minded men,

With powers as far above dull brutes endued,

In forest, brake, or den,

As brutes excel cold rocks and brambles rude

Men who their duties know,

But know their rights, and knowing, dare maintain;
Prevent the long-aimed blow,

And crush the tyrant while they rend the chain-
These constitute a State."

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3. Page 81. 4. The territorial extent of our republic is ten times as large as that of Great Britain and France combined; three times as large as the whole of France, Britain, Austria, Prussia, Spain, Portugal, Belgium, Holland, and Denmark together; one and a half times as large as the Russian empire in Europe; and only one sixth less than the area covered by the sixty States and Empires of Europe. The entire area, in 1853, was 2,93,153 square miles. The internal trade of the United States is of vast extent. Its value amounted in 1853 (lake and western river trade), to more than $560,000,000, in which about 11,000,000 of our people are directly or indirectly interested. Within thirty years our vast railway system has been created by the wealth and industry of our people. The first railway of the United States was built in 18.7. At the beginning of 1857 there were in the United States almost 28,000 miles of railway completed, and half that number of miles under construction. These connect about ten thousand villages and cities. These are opening up vast resources, agricultural and mineral. According to the seventh enumeration of the inhabitants of the United States, made in 1850, the total number was 23,191,876, of whom 19,553,068 are white people: 424,495 free colored; and 3,204,313 slaves. Taking the increase of population from 1840 to 1850, as a basis of calenlation, we may safely conclude the population of the United States to be, at this time [1857] about 28.000,00). The most accessible works in which are given, in detail, the progress of political events in the United States, from the formation of the Constitution until the present time, are Hildreth's History of the United States, second series, and the Sta' man's Manual. The former closes with the year 1821; the latter is continued to the present year.

QUESTION.-21. What can you tell of the extent of our republic? What does Alcæus say constitutes a

State?

SUPPLEMENT.

JEFFERSON'S BOARDING HOUSE.

THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE.

1. The following preamble and specifications, known as the Declaration of Independence, accompanied the resolution of Richard Henry Lee,3 which was adopted by Congress on the 2d day of July, 1776. This declaration was agreed to on the 4th, and the transaction is thus recorded in the Journal for that day:

2. " Agreeably to the order of the day, the Congress resolved itself into a committee of the whole, to take into their further consideration the Declaration; and, after some time, the president resumed the chair, and Mr. Harrison reported that the committee have agreed to a declaration, which they desired him to report. The Declaration being read, was agreed to as follows:"

1. It must be remembered that these specific charges made against the king of Great Britain, include, in their denunciations, the government of which he was the head. Personally, George the Third was not a tyrant, but as the representative of a government, he was so.

2. The picture exhibits the portraits of the committee [note 6, p. 202], appointed to draft a Declaration. Also a view of the house of Mrs. Clymer [note 1, p. 203], where Mr. Jefferson boarded at the time, and wherein he performed the task of making the draft. The portrait nearest the front, and near the centre, is Mr. Jefferson. Behind him is Dr. Franklin, next on his right, is Robert R. Livingston [verse 7, p. 175], next to him is Roger Sherman, and the last, is John Adams.

3. Verse 9, p. 186.

A DECLARATION BY THE REPRESENTATIVES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, IN CONGRESS ASSEMBLED.

When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume, among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station, to which the laws of nature, and of nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

3. We hold these truths to be self-evident-that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. That, to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed; that, whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it, and to institute a new government, laying its foundations on such principles, and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and, accordingly, all experience hath shown that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object, evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government, and to provide new guards for their future security. Such has been the patient sufferance of these colonies, and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former systems of government. The history of the present king of Great Britain, is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute tyranny over these States. To prove this, let facts be submitted to a candid world.

4. He has refused his assent to laws the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.1

5. He has forbidden his governors to pass laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operations till his assent should be obtained; and, when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.2

6. He has refused to pass other laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of representation in the Legislature-a right inestimable to them, and formidable to tyrants only.3

1. The colonial assemblies, from time to time, made enactments touching their commercial operations, the emission of a colonial carrency, and concerning representatives in the imperial parliament, but the assent of the sovereign to these laws was withheld. After the Stamp Act excitements [verse 11, p. 175], Secretary Conway informed the Americans that the tumults should be overlooked, provided the Assemblies would make provision for full compensation for all public property which had been destroyed. In complying with this demand, the Assembly of Massachusetts thought it would be "wholesome and necessary for the public good," to grant free pardon to all who had been engaged in the disturbances, and passed an act accordingly. It would have produced quiet and good feeling, but the royal assent was refused.

2. In 1764, the Assembly of New York took measures to conciliate the SIX NATIONS, and other Indian tribes. The motives of the Assembly were misconstrued, representations having been made to the king that the colonies wished to make allies of the Indians, so as to increase their physical power and proportionate independence of the British crown. The monarch sent instructions to all his governors to desist from such alliances, or to suspend their operations until his assent should be given. He then "utterly neglected to attend to them." The Massachusetts Assembly passed a law in 1770, for taxing officers of the British government in that colony. The governor was ordered to withhold his assent to such taxbill. This was in violation of the colonial charter, and the people justly complained, The Assembly was prorogued from time to time, and laws of great importance were "utterly neglected."

3. A law was passed by parliament in the Spring of 1774, by which the popular representative system in the province of Quebec (Canada) was annulled, and officers appointed by the crown, had all power as legislators, except that of levying taxes, The Canadians being Roman Catholics, were easily pacified under the new order of things, by having their religious system declared the established religion of the province. But "large districts of people" bordering on Nova Scotia, felt this deprivation to be a