A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents | Page 2

the more
important events of his Administration were the "Ashburton treaty"
with Great Britain, the termination of the Indian war in Florida, the
passage of the resolutions by Congress providing for the annexation of
Texas, and the treaty with China. On May 27, 1844, he was nominated
for President at a convention in Baltimore, but although at first he
accepted the nomination, he subsequently withdrew his name. On June
26, 1844, Mr. Tyler married Miss Julia Gardiner, of New York, his first
wife having died September 9, 1842. After leaving the White House he
took up his residence on his estate, Sherwood Forest, near Greenway,
Va., on the bank of the James River. Was president of the Peace
Convention held at Washington February 4, 1861. Afterwards, as a
delegate to the Virginia State convention, he advocated the passage of
an ordinance of secession. In May, 1861, he was unanimously elected a
member of the provisional congress of the Confederate States. In the
following autumn he was elected to the permanent congress, but died at
Richmond January 18, 1862, before taking his seat, and was buried in

Hollywood Cemetery, in that city.
* * * * *

INAUGURAL ADDRESS.
WASHINGTON, _April 9, 1841_.
To the People of the United States.
FELLOW-CITIZENS: Before my arrival at the seat of Government the
painful communication was made to you by the officers presiding over
the several Departments of the deeply regretted death of William Henry
Harrison, late President of the United States. Upon him you had
conferred your suffrages for the first office in your gift, and had
selected him as your chosen instrument to correct and reform all such
errors and abuses as had manifested themselves from time to time in
the practical operation of the Government. While standing at the
threshold of this great work he has by the dispensation of an all-wise
Providence been removed from amongst us, and by the provisions of
the Constitution the efforts to be directed to the accomplishing of this
vitally important task have devolved upon myself. This same
occurrence has subjected the wisdom and sufficiency of our institutions
to a new test. For the first time in our history the person elected to the
Vice-Presidency of the United States, by the happening of a
contingency provided for in the Constitution, has had devolved upon
him the Presidential office. The spirit of faction, which is directly
opposed to the spirit of a lofty patriotism, may find in this occasion for
assaults upon my Administration; and in succeeding, under
circumstances so sudden and unexpected and to responsibilities so
greatly augmented, to the administration of public affairs I shall place
in the intelligence and patriotism of the people my only sure reliance.
My earnest prayer shall be constantly addressed to the all-wise and
all-powerful Being who made me, and by whose dispensation I am
called to the high office of President of this Confederacy,
understandingly to carry out the principles of that Constitution which I
have sworn "to protect, preserve, and defend."
The usual opportunity which is afforded to a Chief Magistrate upon his
induction to office of presenting to his countrymen an exposition of the

policy which would guide his Administration, in the form of an
inaugural address, not having, under the peculiar circumstances which
have brought me to the discharge of the high duties of President of the
United States, been afforded to me, a brief exposition of the principles
which will govern me in the general course of my administration of
public affairs would seem to be due as well to myself as to you.
In regard to foreign nations, the groundwork of my policy will be
justice on our part to all, submitting to injustice from none. While I
shall sedulously cultivate the relations of peace and amity with one and
all, it will be my most imperative duty to see that the honor of the
country shall sustain no blemish. With a view to this, the condition of
our military defenses will become a matter of anxious solicitude. The
Army, which has in other days covered itself with renown, and the
Navy, not inappropriately termed the right arm of the public defense,
which has spread a light of glory over the American standard in all the
waters of the earth, should be rendered replete with efficiency.
In view of the fact, well avouched by history, that the tendency of all
human institutions is to concentrate power in the hands of a single man,
and that their ultimate downfall has proceeded from this cause, I deem
it of the most essential importance that a complete separation should
take place between the sword and the purse. No matter where or how
the public moneys shall be deposited, so long as the President can exert
the power