most financiers of his time. Owing to his wise statesmanship he was frequently selected as commissioner to negotiate important treaties with foreign powers. He was United States minister to France from 1816 to 1823, and to England in 1826-7. In 1824 he was nominated for Vice-president, but withdrew from the candidacy. Gallatin's subsequent business career was successful, and his numerous financial and historical writings added greatly to his reputation. "His eminent and manifold services to his adopted country, his great abilities and upright character assure him of a high position in the history of the United States."

4. Meriwether Lewis and William Clarke were of Virginia birth, and both had abundant experience in Indian warfare, so that the perils of their long expedition merely added zest to the enterprise. Their return to St. Louis, September, 1806, was nearly two and a half years after their departure from that point. Lewis was made governor of Missouri territory, and died near Nashville in 1809. Clarke also became governor of Missouri territory; and, later, Superintendent of Indian Affairs. He died at St. Louis in 1838.

Many of the Indians met with on this journey were as much surprised at seeing white men as the savages who greeted the landing of Columbus more than three hundred years before. In the history of their expedition, referring to this point they say: "They [the Indians] had, indeed, abundant sources of surprise in all they saw. The appearance of the men, their arms, their clothing, the canoes, the strange looks of the negro, and the sagacity of our dog,-all in turn shared their admiration, which was raised to astonishment by a shot from the air-gun: this operation was instantly considered as a great medicine,' by which they, as well as the other Indians, mean something emanating directly from the Great Spirit, or produced by his invisible and incomprehensible agency."

5. When Commodore Bainbridge presented himself on one occasion with the yearly tribute at Algiers, he was commanded by the Dey to proceed on some business of his to Constantinople. Upon his replying that such were not his orders, the Dey remarked: "You are under my orders; your people are my subjects, else why do they pay me tribute?" The Commodore suggested to his government that tribute should be paid henceforth from the cannon's mouth.

6. Commodore Edward Preble and Commodore Charles Morris were both born in New England, and rank among the distinguished officers of the American navy. Preble died at Portland, Me., in 1807. During the war of 1812 Commodore Morris did conspicuous service. He was severely wounded in the fight between the "Constitution" and the "Guerrière" (2 372). He died at Washington, D. C., 1856.

7. "George Clinton (b. 1739, d. 1812) was the undisputed leader of the popular party. He had been governor of New York since 1777, and was re-elected every other year to that office for eighteen years. Able, tough, wary, a self-willed man, wielding with unusual tact the entire patronage of the state, and dear to the affections of the great mass of the people, he is an imposing figure in the politics of the time, and must ever be regarded as the Chief Man of the state of New York during the earlier years of its independent existence."-James Parton.

8. This refers to Harman Blennerhasset, an Irishman of good birth and education, who brought to America considerable wealth, and built an elegant home on an island in the Ohio River below Marietta. On his way west Burr stopped at Blennerhasset's house, and, by his glowing representations and pleasant promises, easily won the Irish gentleman's support in his wicked schemes. When Burr became emperor of the south-west, Blennerhasset was to be made a duke and given the principal foreign ministry! His money and all his estates were lost in the fatal enterprise, and he died a broken-hearted old man, on the island of Guernsey, 1831.

9. General James Wilkinson, then governor of Louisiana, is the person alluded to. He was believed by many to have been at first a sharer with Aaron Burr in his treasonable designs, but was acquitted of such complicity in a trial held in 1811. After Jefferson's proclamation, General Wilkinson used every means to arrest Burr and to defeat his plans.

10. Robert Fulton (b. 1765, d. 1815) was in his earlier years more of an artist than a mechanic, and he went to London to perfect himself in portrait-painting under the famous Benjamin West. While there he met Earl Stanhope, James Watt, and others engaged in finding practical uses for the recently invented steam-engine, and his mind was directed to the solution of the same problem. His first application of steam-power for propelling boats was on the Seine, in 1803, but the experiment was not very successful. After the success of the "Clermont," Fulton's reputation was world-wide. He built many river steamboats, and constructed the first United States steam war-vessel-named "Fulton the First." Among his inventions were an improvement in canal-locks, a submarine torpedo, and machines for marble-sawing, flax-spinning, and rope-making.

CHAPTER XXIV.

SIXTH ADMINISTRATION, A. D. 1809-1813.

James Madison, President.

George Clinton, Vice-president.

366, The Fourth President.-Jefferson, having followed the example of Washington in declining a third term of office, was succeeded by James Madison,' of Virginia, who was inaugurated March 4, 1809. George Clinton, of New York, was re-elected as Vice-president. The same principles continued to control the government, and the same harmony was visible in the cabinet.

James Madison.

their own service. Their doctrine was, "Once an Englishman, always an Englishman;" while the United States held then, as now, that a foreigner can, if he will, renounce his allegiance to his sovereign and become a citizen of the Republic.

368. At least six thousand of our seamen had been thus forced into the British navy, and nine hundred America

vessels had been boarded within eight years. President Madison made every effort to maintain peace between the two countries, but in vain. War was declared by the United States in June, 1812.

The Indians of the North-west were now united in a strong

HULL'S SURRENDER.

215

confederacy under the Shawnee chief, Tecumseh," and their ravages upon our frontier settlements for a year past were supposed to have been incited by British emissaries. General Harrison, having been sent to subdue them during the autumn of the preceding year, had been surprised by a night attack near the Tippecanoe; but he received it with such spirit, and his men fought so bravely, that the assailants were routed with great slaughter.

369. The first movement against the British was attended by the greatest disgrace that has ever befallen American arms. Marching from Dayton, Ohio, General Hull and 1,500 men toiled for a month through dense forests to Lake Erie, and thence to Detroit. An invasion of

Canada was the object; and after a brief pause for refreshment Hull crossed the river, but learning that Mackinaw had been taken, and that a force of British and Indians was approaching, he hastily retreated.

370. Hull's Surrender. He was soon followed by General Brock, governor of Canada, and Tecumseh, with their respective forces. The Americans were eager for a fight, but to their amazement and grief Hull raised a white flag over the fort without firing a single cannon. Not only Detroit, but all Michigan Territory was surrendered to the British. Fort Dearborn, on the present site of Chicago, was taken by Indians about the same time, and its garrison were either tomahawked or made prisoners. General Hull was tried by court-martial and sentenced to be shot as a coward, but the President spared his life.

Aug. 16, 1812.

371. The invasion of Canada by General Van Rensselaer's command was less humiliating, though scarcely more successful. Crossing Niagara River, his men drove the enemy from their position on Queenstown Heights; but the commander of the New York militia refused to leave that