position excited, both within and without the Congress of the United States, against the Tariff bill of the preceding session, which raised the duties on all imported articles, had seemed to threaten a dissolution of the Union, the present session passed over without any attempt to obtain a repeal of the obnoxious measure. There seemed to be an understanding between its adversaries and its friends, that it would be improper for the existing Congress to make any alteration, as another President had already been chosen, and another Congress would be elected before the end of the year, when it would be seen whether a new legis lature and executive would pursue the policy of their predecessors.

The boundary line betwen the United States and the Canadas had long been a subject of dispute between the two governments, and was still pending; but, pending though it was, Congress showed a strong inclination to treat it as being already decided in their own favour. The representatives for the state of Maine desired a vote of money, for the purpose of constructing a military road from Mars-hill, in the state of Maine, through the territory on the northern frontier. The proposal was advocated on the ground that such an exercise of

over the soil in question, would have a tendency to support the position which it had assumed in its negotiations with respect to that territory, and would show that it had no intention of weakening or abandoning that claim. In opposition to this, it was asserted that it would be inconsistent with the spirit of the agreement with Great Britain, and could have no effect in strengthening the title. Evident as this seemed to be, and plain as was the impertinence and chicanery of the motion, the question was carried in the House. The most objectionable part, however, was afterwards got rid of by an amendment, declaring that the road should be made only if the President "shall deem it necessary for maintaining the rights, and not inconsistent with the engagements, of the United States.'

On the 4th of March, general Jackson, the newly-celected President, was installed in his office. Mr. John C. Calhoun was the Vice-President. The President's cabinet was composed of Mr. Van Buren as Secretary of State; Mr. Ingham, as Secretary of the Treasury; Mr. Eaton, as Secretary of War; Mr. Branch, as Secretary of the Navy; and Mr. Berrier, as Attorney General. The inaugural

speech of general Jackson was expressed with much moderation, and gave no countenance to the accusations regarding his despotic temper and exaggerated opinions, which had been busily propagated during the excitement of the election. After detailing the different duties which devolved on him as the head of the executive, he explained as follows the principles by which he was resolved to be guided in discharging them: "In administering the laws of Congress, I shall keep steadily in view the limitations, as well as the extent, of the executive power, trusting thereby to discharge the functions of my office, without transcending its authority. With foreign nations it will be my study to preserve peace, and to cultivate friendship on fair and honourable terms; and, in the adjustment of any difference that may exist or arise, to exhibit the forbearance becoming a powerful nation, rather than the sensibility belonging to a gallant people.

"In such measures as I may be called on to pursue in regard to the rights of the separate States, I hope to be animated by a proper respect for those sovereign members of our union; taking care not to confound the powers they have reserved to themselves, with those they have granted to the confederacy.

"The management of the public revenue, the searching operation in all governments, is among the most delicate and important trusts in ours; and it will of course demand no inconsiderable share of my official solicitude. Under every respect in which it can be considered, it would appear that advantage must result from the observance of a strict and faithful economy. This I shall aim at the more anxiously, both because it will fa

cilitate the extinguishment of the national debt, the unnecessary duration of which is incompatible with real independence,—and, because it will counteract that tendency to public and private profligacy, which a profuse expenditure of money by the government is but too apt to engender. Powerful auxiliaries to the attainment of this desirable end are to be found in the regulations provided by the wisdom of Congress, for the specific appropriation of public money, and the prompt accountability of public officers.

"With regard to a proper selection of the subjects of impost, with a view to revenue, it would seem to me that the spirit of equity, caution, and compromise, in which the constitution was formed, requires that the great interests of agriculture, commerce, and manufactures, should be equally favoured; and that the only exception to this rule should consist in the peculiar encouragement of any products of either of them that may be found essential to our national independence.

"Considering standing armies as dangerous to free governments in time of peace, I shall not seek to enlarge our present establishment, nor disregard that salutary lesson of political experience which teaches that the military should be held subordinate to the civil power. The gradual increase of our navy, whose flag has displayed in distant climes our skill in navigation and our fame in arms; the preservation of our forts, arsenals, and dockyards; and the introduction of progressive improvements in the discipline and science of both branches of our military service, are so plainly prescribed by prudence, that I should be excused for

omitting their mention, sooner than for enlarging upon their importance. But the bulwark of our defence is the national militia, which, in the present state of our intelligence and population, must render us invincible. As long as our government is administered for the good of the people, and is regulated by their will, as long as it secures to us the rights of person and of property, liberty of conscience and of the press,-it will be worth defending; and so long as it is worth defending, a patriotic militia will cover it with an impenetrable ægis. Partial injuries and occasional mortifications we may be subjected to; but a million of armed freemen, possessed of the means of war, can never be conquered by a foreign foe. To any just system, therefore, calculated to strengthen this natural safeguard of the country, I shall cheerfully lend all the aid in my power.

"It will be my sincere and constant desire to observe towards the Indian tribes within our limits, a just and liberal policy; and to give that humane and considerate attention to their rights and their wants which are consistent with the habits of our government, and the feelings of our people.

"The recent demonstration of public sentiment inscribes on the list of executive duties, in characters too legible to be overlooked, the task of reform, which will require particularly the correction of those abuses that have brought the patronage of the federal government into conflict with the freedom of elections, and the counteraction of those causes which have disturbed the rightful course of appointment, and have placed or continued power in unfaithful or incompetent hands."

The government of BRAZIL, having concluded a peace with Buenos Ayres, directed its attention to its internal concerns, which had suffered severely during the continuance of the war. On the 2nd of April, the Emperor called an extraordinary meeting of the Legis lative Assembly. He convoked them, he said, for two reasons; first, foreign troops, consisting of Portuguese emigrants, were coming to seek an asylum in Brazil; secondly, the general condition of the finances, and more especially the state of the Brazil Bank, which required legislative interference. The first had ceased, "but the second," said the Emperor, "continues, and I lament the necessity of recommending it, for the fourth time, to the notice of this assembly. The miserable state, to which the public treasury has been reduced, is notorious to all; and it is greatly to be appre¬ hended, that, if, during this extraordinary session, in spite of my repeated recommendations, it does not provide an adequate remedy, the future fate which awaits us is very disastrous."

The speech of the Emperor was followed up by a proposal of M. Calmon, the minister of Finance, for the better regulation of the Bank, as a preliminary step towards placing the currency of the country on a secure basis. The management of its affairs was to be vested in a directing commission of seven members, four of whom were to be named by government, and the other three elected by a majority of the share-holders. The Bank was thus to be under the management of the government, and to become, in truth, an institution whose operations would be guided solely by the views and

the necessities of the government. This direct commission was to be employed first, in withdrawing from circulation all notes which were payable at the Bank; secondly, in ascertaining the exact number of notes in circulation, and substituting for them new ones, to be signed by two members: thirdly, in winding up all the accounts of the Bank, and especially those relating to the debt of government; fourthly, in liquidating all the regular transactions of the Bank still pending; fifthly, in receiving the debts due to, and liquidating those due by, the Bank forthwith; and sixthly, in examining the state of the Bahia Orphans' Fund, and that of St. Paul. It was to render an account of its labours to the government monthly, and to lay before the Legislative Assembly every year a state of the affairs of the Bank. The current value of the notes in circulation, or of those which might be substituted for them, was to be recognized, and "the primitive funds" of the Bank were assigned as security for them. These funds were described as being "its funds of reserve, or the metallic funds existing in its coffers, the debt of the government, the debts of private individuals to the Bank, and every thing else which may constitute the credits of the Bank: the deposits in the Bank are also assigned as security to the public." So that the security spoken of amounted to this, that, if the Bank should become insolvent, its creditors would be allowed to take in payment whatever it might be found to possess. It was further proposed, that the debt due to the Bank by the government should continue to pay one per cent in terest, to be distributed as a dividend half-yearly among the

share-holders; and, with a view to its liquidation, government was to be authorized to contract a loan in specie equal to three-fifths of its amount. The produce of this loan was to be exclusively applied to the purchase of notes of the Bank, according to their value in the market; and all the notes thus bought up, were to have no longer any value, excepting as payment to the directing commission on account of the debt to the Bank. The application of the loan, or of the notes bought up with it, to any other purposes than these was prohibited under the penalties denounced by the law against the embezzlers and dissipators of the public property. The relation of debtor, in which the government thus stood to the Bank, was an additional reason against lodging the management of the affairs of the latter in a body of directors, the majority of whom were to be named by the former, and who, it was further provided, were to take their instructions from the government in all cases of doubta quality which the government majority could, at its pleasure, affix to any proposed operation.

On the 3rd of May, the ordinary session of the Legislative Assembly was opened. The Emperor, to quiet their apprehensions of being involved in an European quarrel, assured them, that, although resolved to enter into no compromise with the usurper of his daughter's throne, he was equally determined not to endanger on that account, the interests and tranquillity of Brazil. He recommended to them to take measures for restraining the abuse of the liberty of the press, "which unhappily had been propagated over the whole empire, "and, in a short

time, unless repressed, would be productive of the most fatal results;" and he again specially called their attention to the state of the finances. The accounts of the intended expenditure, and anticipated income, for the following year, were accordingly remitted to a committee, which, by its report, proposed considerable reductions on all the estimates, bringing them down from nearly thirty millions of milrees to about nineteen millions and a half, not quite five millions sterling, even without making allowance for the depreciation of the Brazil currency below the true value of the Portuguese coin. Besides the reductions, the language in which the committee proposed and justified them was by no means flattering to the government. They had discovered that two judges of the Supreme Court having exchanged their judicial functions for places in the administration, still retained their judicial salaries; they observed that "the nation was too poor to support, by accumulative sinecures, idleness and vanity." The expenditure of the war department, which they cut down nearly one-half, they described as "enough to drive the blood back into the heart."

One topic of inquiry related to the conduct of the government regarding the payment of the interest on the Portuguese loan negotiated in London, which Brazil, by the treaty of independence, had become bound to take upon itself. The committee reported that the Chambers had already voted money for the discharge of this obligation, and demanded to know what had been done with that money. Have the interest and sinking fund on the Portuguese loan in London been paid? Have the dividends

of the last six months of 1828, and those of the year 1829, been yet discharged? If they have not, where is the money? If the commission can lend its ear to public report, there has been no interest paid on that loan, the payment being suspended by the omnipotence of the London legation. If this be the case, how, without some explanation, are the respective sums advanced, which show an uninterrupted continuance of the transactions."-M. Calmon, the minister of finance answered, that he was ready to lay before the Chamber all the documents which related to the subject. From these it would be seen, that, on the usurpation of the Portuguese crown, the payment of the Portuguese dividends had been suspended by the Brazilian legation in London, which gave notice, at the same time, to the Brazilian government of the fact, and of the grounds on which it had done so. The Brazilian government, on learning this, ordered the payments to be made as formerly. But its representative in England, conceiving that, by the success of Don Miguel's usurpation, the treaty between Brazil and Portugal was broken, and seeing that there was no Portuguese ambassador in London to receive and pay over the dividends to the Portuguese creditors, delayed the execution of the order, and wrote home for farther explanations-for, by the terms of the treaty, the funds to pay the interest of the Portuguese debt, transmitted in the first instance from Brazil, were to be handed over from the Brazilian to the Portuguese ambassador, and to be paid by the latter to the holders of the Portuguese bonds. To the demand for further instruc