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MARTIN VAN BUREN,

THE EIGHTH PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES,

Was born in the flourishing town of Kinderhook, New York September 5, 1782, and early received the best education that could then be obtained in the schools in his immediate vicinity.

Having sufficiently prepared himself for the study of law, he entered the office of Francis Sylvester, in his native town, where he remained about six years. But law did not engross his whole time he found leisure occasionally to peer into the mys teries of political economy, and finally arrived at the conclusion that his chances for fame and fortune were at least equal in the arena of politics to anything he might accomplish by a strict adherence to legal pursuits. Fully impressed with this idea, he early set about cultivating what little popularity could be gained in his limited sphere, and so won upon the confidence of his neighbors and friends as to be appointed, while yet in his teens, a delegate to a convention in his native county, in which im. portant political measures were to be acted upon.

In 1808 he was appointed Surrogate of Columbia county, the first public office he ever held; and in 1812 and 1816 he was elected to the State Senate, in which body he became a distin guished leader of the Madison party, and one of its most eloquent supporters.

In 1821 he was elected to the United States Senate, in which he held his seat for nearly eight years, and became remarkable not only for his close attention to business, but also for his devotion to the great principles of the Democratic party.

In 1828 he was elected Governor of his native State, and entered upon the duties of that office on the first of January, 1829; but he filled the gubernatorial chair for only a few weeks. In March following, when General Jackson was elevated to the Presidency, he tendered Mr. Van Buren the post of Secretary of State, which was accepted. At the expiration of two years he resigned his seat in the Cabinet, and was immediately appointed minister to England; but when his nomination was submitted to the Senate, (June 25, 1831,) it was rejected by the casting vote of the Vice President, (Mr. Calhoun) and of course he was recalled. As his friends attributed his rejection entirely to personal and political rancor, it only served to raise Mr. Van Buren in the estimation of his political adherents; and the result was, that in May following he was nominated with great unanimity for the Vice-Presidency by the Democratic Convention at Baltimore. His triumphant election was regarded not merely as a high compliment to himself, but as a wholesome rebuke to his opponents.

In 1836 he was put in nomination for the chief magistracy, to which he was elected by a large majority over Gen. Harrison; but at the next Presidential election the tables were turned, and he only received sixty votes out of two hundred and ninety-four.

After his defeat, he returned to Kinderhook, where he remained some time, and then visited Europe, with one of his sons, whose restoration to health was the principal object of his journey. Not long after his return, he consented to become once more a candidate for the Presidency, and in 1848 received the nomination of the Free-Soil party; but did not secure a single electoral vote.

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WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON,

THE NINTH PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES,

Was born in Charles City county, Va., February 9, 1773, and was educated for the medical profession at Hampden Sydney ollege. He graduated at a time when our north-western fron

tier was suffering much from the neighboring Indians; and be lieving that he could be of greater service in repelling the savage invaders than in pursuing his studies, he accepted an ensign's commission from President Washington, and joined the army. He was promoted to a lieutenancy in 1792, and his skill and bravery were highly commended by General Wayne, under whose command he was engaged in several actions. After the bloody battle of Miami Rapids, he was rewarded with the rank of captain, and immediately placed in command of Fort Washington. In 1797 he resigned his commission, for the purpose of accepting the office of Secretary of the North-West Territory, from which he was elected a delegate to Congress in 1799. When a territorial government was formed for Indiana, he was appointed the first Governor, and continued in that office till 1813. To his civil and military duties he added those of commissioner and superintendent of Indian affairs; and, in the course of his administration, he concluded thirteen important treaties with the different tribes. On the 7th of November, 1811, he gained the celebrated battle of Tippecanoe, the news of which was received throughout the country with a burst of enthusiasm. During the war of 1812 he was made commander of the north-western army of the United States, and he bore a conspicuous part in the leading events in the campaign of 1812, '13-the defence of Fort Meigs, and the victory of the Thames. In 1814, he was appointed, in conjunction with his companions in arms, Governor Shelby and General Cass, to treat with the Indians in the north-west, at Greenville; and, in the following year, he was placed at the head of a commission to treat with various other important tribes.

In 1816, he was elected a member of Congress from Ohio; and, in 1828, he was sent minister plenipotentiary to the republic of Colombia. On his return, he took up his residence at North Bend, on the Ohio, where he lived upon his farm, in comparative retirement, till 1836, when he became a candidate for the Presidency; and although defeated on the first trial, four years afterwards he was eleeted by a large majority, and inau gurated in 1841. But he did not long survive this crowning honor, as he died on the 4th of April, just one month after en tering upon his duties. His funeral obsequies were performed on the 7th, and an immense concourse assembled to pay their testimony of respect. Funeral services and processions also took place in most of the principal cities throughout the country As General Harrison was the first President who died while in office, his successor, Mr. Tyler, recommended that the 14th of May be observed as a day of fasting and prayer, and accordingly it was so observed.

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THE SUCCESSOR OF GEN. HARRISON, AS PRESIDENT, Was born at Williamsburg, Virginia, March 29, 1790, and at the age of twelve years entered William and Mary's College, where he graduated with distinguished merit five years afterwards. Few have commenced life at so early a period as Mr. Tyler-he having been admitted to the bar when only nineteen, and elected to the Virginia Legislature before attaining his twenty-second year. In 1816 he was sent to Congress; in 1825, elected Governor of Virginia, and in 1827 became United States Senator; in which capacity he firmly supported the administra tion of General Jackson-voting against the tariff bill of 1828, and against re-chartering the United States Bank. Notwithstanding this last vote, the friends of the bank, presuming upon his well-known conservatism, at the special session of Congress called by his predecessor, introduced a bill for the establishment

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