formed by officers taken from the line of the army, to the great prejudice of the service.

For a general view of the condition of the military academy, and of other branches of the military service not already noticed, as well as for fuller illustrations of those which have been mentioned, I refer you to the accompanying documents; and among the various proposals contained therein for legislative action I would particularly notice the suggestion of the secretary of war for the revision of the pay of the army as entitled to your favourable regard.

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The national policy, founded alike in interest and in humanity, so long and so steadily pursued by this government for the removal of the Indian tribes originally settled on this side of the Mississippi, to the west of the river, may be said to have been consummated by the conclusion of the late treaty with the Cherokees. The measures taken in the execution of that treaty, and in relation to Indian affair generally, will fully appear by referring to the accompanying papers. Without dwelling on the numerous and important topics embraced in them, I again invite your attention to the importance of providing a well-digested and comprehensive system for the protection, supervision, and improvement of the various tribes now planted in the Indian country. The suggestions submitted by the commissioner of Indian Affairs, and enforced by the secretary, on this subject, and also in regard to the establishment of additional military posts in the Indian country, are entitled to your profound consideration. Both measures are necessary for the double purpose of protecting the Indians from intestine

war, and in other respects complying with our engagements to them, and of securing our western frontier against incursions, which otherwise will assuredly be made on it. The best hopes of humanity, in regard to the aboriginal race, the welfare of our rapidly extending settlements, and the honour of the United States, are all deeply involved in the relations existing between this government and the emigrating tribes. I trust therefore, that the various matters submitted in the accompanying documents, in respect to those relations will receive your early and mature deliberations, and that it may issue in the adoption of legislative measures adapted to the circumstances and duties of the present crisis.

You are referred to the report of the secretary of the navy for a satisfactory view of the operations of the department under his charge, during the present year. In the construction of vessels at the different navy yards, and in the employment of our ships and squadrons at sea, that branch of the service has been actively and usefully employed. While the situation of our commercial interests in the West Indies required a greater number than usual of armed vessels to be kept on that station, it is gratifying to perceive that the protection due to our commerce in other quarters of the world, has not proved insufficient. Every effort has been made to facilitate the equipment of the exploring expedition authorised by the act of last session, but all the preparation necessary to enable it to sail has not yet been completed. No means will be spared by the government to fit out the expedition on a scale corresponding with the liberal ap

propriation for the purpose, and with the elevated character of the objects which are to be effected by it.

I beg leave to renew the recommendation made in my last annual message respecting the enlistment of boys in our naval service, and to urge upon your attention the necessity of further appropriations to increase the number of ships afloat, and to enlarge generally the capacity and force of the navy. The increase of our commerce, and our position in regard to the other powers of the world, will always make it our policy and interest to cherish the great naval resources of our country.

The report of the postmastergeneral presents a gratifying picture of the condition of the postoffice department. Its revenues for the year ending the 30th of June last, were 3,358,455 19 dollars, showing an increase of revenue over that of the preceding year of 304,878 53 dollars, or more than eighteen per cent. The expenditures for the same year were 2,755,623 76 dollars, exhibiting a surplus of 642,831 43 dollars. The department has been redeemed from embarrassment and debt, has accumulated a surplus exceeding 500,000 dollars, has largely extended, and is preparing still further to extend, the mail service, and recommends a reduction of postages equal to about twenty per cent. It is practising upon the great principle, which should control every branch of our government, of rendering the public the greatest good possible, with the least possible taxation to the people.

The scale of postages suggested by the postmaster-general recommends itself, not only by the re

duction it proposes, but by the simplicity of its arrangement, its conformity with the Federal currency, and the improvement it will introduce into the accounts of the department and its agents.

Your particular attention is invited to the subject of mail contracts with railroad companies. The present laws, providing for the making of contracts, are based upon the presumption that competition among bidders will secure the service at a fair price. But on most of the railroad lines there is no competition in that kind of transportation, and advertising is therefore useless. No contract can now be made with them, except such as shall be negociated before the time of offering or afterwards, and the power of the postmastergeneral to pay them high prices is practically without limitation. It would be a relief to him, and no doubt would conduce to the public interest, to prescribe, by law, some equitable basis upon which such contracts shall rest, and restrict him by a fixed rule of allowance. Under a liberal act of that sort he would undoubtedly be able to secure the services of most of the railroad companies, and the interest of the department would be thus advanced.

The correspondence between the people of the United States and the European nations, and particularly with the British islands, has be come very extensive, and requires the interposition of Congress to give it security. No obstacle is perceived to an interchange of mails between New York and Liverpool, or other foreign ports, as proposed by the postmaster-general; on the contrary, it promises, by the security it will afford, to facilitate commercial transactions,

and give rise to an enlarged intercourse among the people of different nations, which cannot but have a happy effect. Through the city of New York most of the correspondence between the Canadas and Europe is now carried on, and urgent representations have been received from the head of the provincial post-office, asking the interposition of the United States to guard it from the accidents and losses to which it is now subjected. Some legislation appears to be called for, as well by our own interest, as by comity to the adjoining British provinces.

The expediency of providing a fire-proof building for the important books and papers of the postoffice department, is worthy of consideration. In the present condition of our treasury, it is neither necessary nor wise to leave essential public interests exposed to so much danger, when they can so readily be made secure. There are weighty considerations in the location of a new building for the department, in favour of placing it near the other executive buildings. The important subjects of a survey of the coast, and the manufacture of a standard of weights and measures for the different custom-houses, have been in progress for some years, under the general direction of the executive and the superintendence of a gentleman possessing high scientific attainments. At the last session of Congress, the making of a set of weights and measures for each state in the Union which added to the others by a joint resolution.

The care and correspondence as to all these subjects have been devolved on the Treasury Department during the last year. A special report from the secretary of

the treasury will soon be communicated to Congress, which will show what has been accomplished as to the whole, the number and compensation of the persons now employed in these duties, and the progress expected to be made during the ensuing year, with a copy of the various correspondence deemed necessary to throw light on the subjects which seem to require additional legislation. Claims have been made for retrospective allowances in behalf of the superintendent, and some of his assistants, which I did not feel justified in granting; other claims have been made for large increases in compensation, which, under all the circumstances of the several cases, I declined making without the express sanction of Congress. In order to obtain that sanction, the subject was at the last session, on my suggestion, and by request of the immediate superintendent, submitted by the Treasury Department to the Committee of Commerce of the House of

Representatives. But no legislative action having taken place, the early attention of Congress is now invited to the enactment of some express and detailed provision in relation to the various claims made for the past, and to the compensation and allowances deemed proper for the future.

It is further respectfully recommended that such being the inconvenience of attention to these duties by the chief magistrates, and such the great pressure of business on the Treasury Department, the general supervision of the coast survey, and the completion of the weights and measures, if the works are kept united, should be devolved on a board of officers, organized specially for that purpose, or on the navy board

attached to the navy depart

men.

All my experience and reflection confirm the conviction I have so often expressed to Congress, in favour of an amendment of the constitution, which will prevent, in any event, the election of the president and vice-president of the United States devolving on the House of Representatives and the Senate; and I therefore beg leave again to solicit your attention to the subject. There were various other suggestions in my last annual message, not acted upon, particularly that relating to the want of uniformity in the laws of the district of Columbia, that are declared worthy of your favourable consideration.

Before concluding this paper, I think it due to the various executive departments to bear testimony to their prosperous condition, and to the ability and integrity with which they have been conducted. It has been my aim to enforce in all of them a vigilant and faithful discharge of the public business, and it is gratifying to me to believe that there is no just cause of complaint from any quarter, at the manner in which they have fulfilled the objects of their creation.

I having now finished the observations deemed proper on this, the last occasion I shall have of com

municating with the two Houses of Congress at their meeting, I cannot omit an expression of the gratitude which is due to the great body of my fellow-citizens, in whose partiality and indulgence I have found encouragement and support in the many difficulties and trying scenes through which it has been my lot to pass during my public career. Though deeply sensible that my exertions have not been crowned with a success corresponding to the degree of favour bestowed on me, I am sure that they will be considered as having been directed by an earnest desire to promote the good of my country, and I am consoled by the persuasion that whatever errors have been committed will find a corrective in the patriotism and intelligence of those who will succeed me. All that has occurred during my administration is calculated to inspire me with increased confidence in the stability of our institutions; and should I be spared to enter upon that retirement which is so suitable to my age and infirm health, and so much desired by me in other respects. I shall not cease to invoke that beneficent Being to whose providence we are already so signally indebted for the continuance of his blessings on our beloved country.

ANDREW JACKSON. Washington, December 6, 1836.

LEOPOLD ROBERT was born at Chaux-de-fonds, in the canton of Neufchatel, in Switzerland, on the 13th of May, 1794. His mother, happening to be in feeble health at the period of his birth, was compelled to send him from home to be nursed, according to the custom of her country, upon goat's milk. Without having it in their power to afford him an elaborate education, his family, whose means were limited, did nevertheless their utmost to procure for him the best instruction, moral as well as intellectual; and in a letter to one of his most intimate friends, written a short time before his death, he speaks with an affection, truly filial, of the tenderness shown him by his mother, and of the bright example which she presented in her own person of that faith which has survived, in such native purity, in some of the wildest fastnesses of Switzerland. From his earliest years, he manifested a decided taste for the art in which he afterwards became so great a proficient. At the age of seven years he was domiciled in a respectable boarding-school, at some distance from the place of his birth, where he applied himself so intensely to his studies, that his

health became impaired, and it was necessary to restore him to his native air of Chaux-de-fonds. Arrived at the age at which it became necessary for him to think of a pursuit, he entered into trade. After experiencing many mortifications, arising chiefly from the uncongenial nature of his occupation, he returned to his friends, and employed himself for some time in copying such indifferent engravings as chanced to fall in his way. The chasteness and spirit of these transcripts, satisfied his friends that painting was the profession in which he was destined to distinguish himself. A young engraver, of the name of Girardet, had lately arrived at the critical juncture to which we have alluded, at Chaux-de-fonds, for the purpose of marrying the daughter of the Protestant minister of the village; and at the request of Robert's friends, took him back with him to Paris. He became, in short, his master and director; and it was in his house that the first years of his residence in Paris were passed. Girardet was engaged in an inferior branch of the profession, and possessed but slender talent. Robert soon discovered that there was little chance