The presidents of the United States : from Washington to Fillmore . ved, they will die. It is a fact—perhaps, a lamentablefact—that no man can stand as a candidate for the Presi-dency, without being exposed to the worst shafts of partymalignity. His best acts will be misrepresented—and thosewhich, though unwise, were only the consequences of mis-taken judgment, be distorted, so as to appear the fruits ofa wicked heart. But Justice has a brow like the sky; theclouds will be swept away, and she will smile upon the pureand true. In ancient Rome, men followed the hero in histriumph with revilings,
The presidents of the United States : from Washington to Fillmore . ved, they will die. It is a fact—perhaps, a lamentablefact—that no man can stand as a candidate for the Presi-dency, without being exposed to the worst shafts of partymalignity. His best acts will be misrepresented—and thosewhich, though unwise, were only the consequences of mis-taken judgment, be distorted, so as to appear the fruits ofa wicked heart. But Justice has a brow like the sky; theclouds will be swept away, and she will smile upon the pureand true. In ancient Rome, men followed the hero in histriumph with revilings, to check his pride. In our country,men assail the character of candidates for high office to findthe true gold of honesty and capacity. CONTENTS. George Washington, . . . .13 John Adams, 57 Thomas Jefferson, 77 James Madison, 101 James Monroe, 145 John Quincy Adams, 163 Andrew Jackson, - . . .215 Martin Van Buren, .... 289 William Henry Harrison, . ... 307 John Tyler, .... ... 345 James Knox Polk, 367 Zachary Taylor, 403 Millard Fillmore, 439 (9). LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. In entering on the delineation of the life and characterof the immortal Washington, we feel as if we were risingabove the common plain of humanity. He stands upon aneminence, wrapped in purity, serenity, and sublimity—aman, yet above the rest of mankind. Whether we contem-plate him as a boy, forming rules for the guidance of hisconduct, and employed in the difficult service of surveyingthe savage wilderness—as a provincial colonel, saving histroops from the consequences of a British generals foliy—as commander-in-chief of the army of independence, snatch-ing his country from the dark pit of despair, defeating dis-ciplined forces a with ftandful of half-starved troops, un-daunted by the saddest reverses, striking the enemy whenthey deemed him crushed—retaining the confidence of themass in spite of cabals, intrigues, and calumny—as presi-dent, when he might have been king, carrying into success-
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