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they again renewed their agreement to remove peaceably to their new homes in the west. In the face of this solemn and renewed compact, they broke their faith, and commenced hostilities by the massacre of Major Dade's command, the murder of their agent, General Thompson, and other acts of cruel treachery. When this alarming and unexpected intelligence reached the seat of government, every effort appears to have been made to reinforce Gen. Clinch, who commanded the troops then in Florida. Gen. Eustis was despatched with reinforcements from Charleston-troops were called out from Alabama, Tennessee, and Georgia; and Gen. Scott was sent to take command with ample powers and ample means. At the first alarm, Gen. Gaines organized a force at New Orleans, and without waiting for orders, landed in Florida, where he delivered over the troops he had brought with him to Gen. Scott.

Governor Call was subsequently appointed to conduct a summer campaign, and, at the close of it, was replaced by Gen. Jesup. These events and changes took place under the administration of my predecessor. Notwithstanding the exertions of the experienced officers who had command there for eighteen months, on entering upon the administration of the government I found the territory of Florida a prey to Indian atrocities. A strenuous effort was immediately made to bring those hostilities to a close; and the army, under Gen. Jesup, was reinforced until it amounted to ten thousand men, and furnished with abundant supplies of every description. In this campaign a great number of the enemy were captured and destroyed; but the character of the contest only was changed. The Indians, having been defeated in every engagement, dispersed in small bands throughout the country, and became an enterprising, formidable, and ruthless banditti. Gen. Taylor, who succeeded Gen. Jesup, used his best exertions to subdue them, and was seconded in his efforts by the officers under his command; but he, too, failed to protect the territory from their depredations. By an act of signal and cruel treachery, they broke the truce made with them by Gen. Macomb, who was sent from Washington for the purpose of carrying into effect the expressed wishes of Congress, and have continued their devastations ever since.

General Armistead, who was in Florida when General Taylor left the army, by permission, assumed the command, and after active summer operations, was met by propositions for peace; and, from the fortunate coincidence of the arrival in Florida, at the same period, of a delegation from the Seminoles, who were happily settled west of the Mississippi, and are now anxious to persuade their countrymen to join them there, hopes were for some time entertained that the Indians might be induced to leave the territory without farther difficulty.

These hopes have proved fallacious, and hostilities have been renewed throughout the whole of the territory. That this contest has endured so long, is to be attributed to causes beyond the control of the government. Experienced officers have had the command of the troops; officers and soldiers have alike distinguished themselves for their activity, patience, and enduring courage; the army has been constantly furnished with supplies of every description; and we must look for the causes which have so long procrasti nated the issue of the contest, in the extent of the theatre of hostilities, the almost insurmountable obstacles presented by the nature of the country, the climate, and the wily character of the savages.

The sites for marine hospitals on the rivers and lakes, which I was

authorized to select and cause to be purchased, have all been designated; but the appropriation not proving sufficient, conditional arrangements only have been made for their acquisition. It is for Congress to decide whether those conditional purchases shall be sanctioned, and the humane intentions of the law carried into full effect.

The navy, as will appear from the accompanying report of the secretary, has been usefully and honorably employed in the protection of our commerce and citizens in the Mediterranean, the Pacific, on the coast of Brazil, and in the Gulf of Mexico. A small squadron, consisting of the frigate Constellation and the sloop of war Boston, under Commodore Kearney, is now on its way to the China and Indian seas, for the purpose of attending to our interests in that quarter; and Commander Aulic, in the sloop of war Yorktown, has been instructed to visit the Sandwich and Society Islands, the coast of New Zealand, and Japan, together with other ports and islands frequented by our whale ships, for the purpose of giving them countenance and protection, should they be required. Other smaller vessels have been, and still are, employed in prosecuting the surveys of the coast of the United States, directed by various acts of Congress; and those which have been completed will shortly be laid before you.

The exploring expedition, at the latest date, was preparing to leave the Bay of Islands, New Zealand, in farther prosecution of objects which have, thus far, been successfully accomplished. The discovery of a new continent, which was first seen in latitude 66 deg. 2 min. south, longitude 154 deg. 27 min. east, and afterwards in latitude 66 deg. 31 min. south, longi. tude 153 deg. 40 min. east, by Lieutenants Wilkes and Hudson, for an extent of eighteen hundred miles, but on which they were prevented from landing by vast bodies of ice which encompassed it, is one of the most honorable results of the enterprise. Lieutenant Wilkes bears testimony to the zeal and good conduct of his officers and men; and it is but justice to that officer to state that he appears to have performed the duties assigned him with an ardor, ability, and perseverance, which give every assurance of an honorable issue to the undertaking.

The report of the postmaster-general, herewith transmitted, will exhibit the service of that department the last year, and its present condition. The transportation has been maintained during the year to the full extent authorized by the existing laws; some improvements have been effected, which the public interest seemed urgently to demand, but not involving any material additional expenditure; the contractors have generally performed their engagements with fidelity; the postmasters, with few exceptions, have rendered their accounts and paid their quarterly balances with promptitude; and the whole service of the department has maintained the efficiency for which it has for several years been distinguished.

The acts of Congress establishing new mail routes and requiring more expensive services on others, and the increasing wants of the country, have, for three years past, carried the expenditures something beyond the accruing revenues; the excess having been met, until the past year, by the surplus which had previously accumulated. That surplus having been exhausted, and the anticipated increase in the revenue not having been realized, owing to the depression in the commercial business of the country, the finances of the department exhibit a small deficiency at the close of the last fiscal year. Its resources, however, are ample; and the reduced rates of compensation for the transportation service, which may be expected on the future lettings,

from the general reduction of prices, with the increase of revenue that may reasonably be anticipated from the revival of commercial activity, must soon place the finances of the department in a prosperous condition.

Considering the unfavorable circumstances which have existed during the past year, it is a gratifying result that the revenue has not declined, as compared with the preceding year, but, on the contrary, exhibits a small increase; the circumstances referred to having had no other effect than to check the expected increase.

It will be seen that the postmaster-general suggests certain improvements in the establishment, designed to reduce the weight of mails, cheapen the transportation, ensure greater regularity in the service, and secure a considerable reduction in the rates of letter postage, an object highly desirable. The subject is one of general interest to the community, and is respectfully recommended to your consideration.

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The suppression of the African slave-trade has received the continued attention of the government. The brig Dolphin and schooner Grampus have been employed during the last season on the coast of Africa, for the purpose of preventing such portions of that trade as were said to be cuted under the American flag. After cruising on those parts of the coast most usually resorted to by slavers, until the commencement of the rainy season, these vessels returned to the United States for supplies, and have since been despatched on a similar service.

From the reports of the commanding officers, it appears that the trade is now principally carried on under Portuguese colors; and they express the opinion that the apprehension of their presence on the slave coast has, in a great degree, arrested the prostitution of the American flag to this inhuman purpose. It is hoped that, by continuing to maintain this force in that quarter, and by the exertions of the officers in command, much will be done to put a stop to whatever portion of this traffic may have been carried on under the American flag, and to prevent its use in a trade which, while it violates the laws, is equally an outrage on the rights of others and the feelings of humanity. The efforts of the several governments who are anxiously seeking to suppress this traffic must, however, be directed against the facilities afforded by what are now recognised as legitimate commercial pursuits, before that object can be fully accomplished.

Supplies of provisions, water-casks, merchandise, and articles connected with the prosecution of the slave trade, are, it is understood, freely carried by vessels of different nations to the slave factories; and the effects of the factors are transported openly from one slave station to another, without interruption or punishment by either of the nations to which they belong, engaged in the commerce of that nation. I submit to your judgments, whether this government, having been the first to prohibit by adequate penalties, the slave trade the first to declare it piracy-should not be the first, also, to forbid to its citizens all trade with the slave factories on the coast of Africa; giving an example to all nations in this respect, which, if fairly followed, cannot fail to produce the most effective results in breaking up those dens of iniquity.

HARRISON'S INAUGURAL ADDRESS.

CALLED from a retirement which I had supposed was to continue for the residue of my life, to fill the chief executive office of this great and free nation, I appear before you, fellow-citizens, to take the oaths which the constitution prescribes as a necessary qualification for the performance of its duties. And in obedience to a custom coeval with our government, and what I believe to be your expectations, I proceed to present to you a summary of the principles which will govern me in the discharge of the duties "which I shall be called upon to perform.

It was the remark of a Roman consul, in an early period of that celebrated republic, that a most striking contrast was observable in the conduct of candidates for offices of power and trust, before and after obtaining them -they seldom carrying out in the latter case the pledges and promises made in the former. However much the world may have improved, in many respects, in the lapse of upwards of two thousand years since the remark was made by the virtuous and indignant Roman, I fear that a strict examination of the annals of some of the modern elective governments would develop similar instances of violated confidence.

Although the fiat of the people has gone forth, proclaiming me the chief magistrate of this glorious Union, nothing upon their part remaining to be done, it may be thought that a motive may exist to keep up the delusion under which they may be supposed to have acted in relation to my principles and opinions; and perhaps there may be some in this assembly who have come here either prepared to condemn those I shall now deliver, or, approving them, to doubt the sincerity with which they are uttered. But the lapse of a few months will confirm or dispel their fears. The outline of principles to govern, and measures to be adopted by an administration not yet begun, will soon be exchanged for immutable history, and I shall stand, either exonerated by my countrymen, or classed with the mass of those who promised that they might deceive, and flattered with the intention to betray.

However strong may be my present purpose to realize the expectations of a magnanimous and confiding people, I too well understand the infirmities of human nature, and the dangerous temptations to which I shall be exposed, from the magnitude of the power which it has been the will of the people to commit to my hands, not to place my chief confidence upon the aid of that Almighty Power which has hitherto protected me, and enabled me to bring to favorable issues other important but still greatly inferior trusts, heretofore con. fided to me by my country.

The broad foundation upon which our constitution rests being the people -a breath of theirs having made, as a breath can unmake, change, or modify it-it can be assigned to none of the great divisions of government but to that of democracy. If such is its theory, those who are called upon to administer it must recognise, as its leading principle, the duty of shaping their measures, so as to produce the greatest good to the greatest number. But, with these broad admissions, if we could compare the sovereignty

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