court of France. Here, the unadorned majesty of his character shone with a lustre, which, while it conciliated the ardent leaders of the French revolutionists, maintained, unimpaired, the exalted administration of Washington.

On his return home, he was elected, in 1799, governor of Virginia. At the expiration of the constitutional term, he declined a re-election, and received a unanimous vote of thanks for the faithful, dignified, and impartial manner in which he had discharged the duties of chief magistrate.

In 1802, he was appointed by president Jefferson, in conjunction with Mr Livingston, then resident minister in France, envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary to that country; and he was empowered to act, in concert with Mr C. Pinckney, in the same character in Spain. In this embassy he exhibited profound talents as a diplomatist, and assisted in the purchase of the territory of Louisiana.

He next repaired to London, in the summer of 1803, to succeed Mr King, who had requested permission to return home.

In 1806, Mr Pinckney, a distinguished advo

cate of the Maryland bar, was associated with Mr Monroe, under a special mission, to negotiate with lords Holland and Auckland for Great Britain.-By these commissioners a treaty was formed, but its provisions were so exceptionable in the view of president Jefferson, that he took upon himself to return it. Several attempts were made by our commissioners to bring matters to a more acceptable result, but without success. The affair of the Chesapeake produced a rupture between the two governments, and Mr Monroe returned home.

In 1810, he was again called to the gubernatorial chair of his native state, and while in the exercise of this office, in the following year, he was appointed by president Madison secretary of state. In this station the scholar, the patriot, and the statesman shone conspicuously. No British subtility could enthral-no vapid promises allure-no menacing tone could deter the secretary. The firm language of remonstrance gave place to the sonorous notes of war. Hostilities commenced against Great Britain, and he was called upon to discharge also the duties of secretary at war. Thus upon one day he had to act a sig

nificant part in the cabinet-upon another, to give an official direction to the thunders of Plattsburgh, the Canadian peninsula, and New-Orleans.

In 1817 he succeeded Mr Madison in the presidential chair; and during a happy administration of eight years, which has passed away in a period of profound peace, a public debt of sixty millions has been discharged; the internal taxes have been repealed; relief has been granted to the aged and indigent among the surviving warriors of the revolution; the Floridas have been acquired; and our boundary has been extended to the Pacific Ocean; the independence of the states of South America has been recognized; the African traffic in slaves has been suppressed; the interior regions of the United States have been explored; provision has been made for cultivating the mind of the Aborigines and turning their attention to the cultivation of the soil; and in preparing by scientific researches and surveys, for the further application of our national resources to the internal improvement of our country.

TO HAYDN.

WHO is the mighty master, that can trace
The eternal lineaments of Nature's face?
'Mid endless dissonance, what mortal ear
Could e'er her peal of perfect concord hear?
Answer, O HAYDN ! strike the magic chord!
And, as thou strik'st, reply, and proof afford.
Whene'er thy genius, flashing native fire,
Bids the soul tremble with the trembling lyre,
The hunter's clattering hoof, the peasant shout,
The warrior's onset, or the battle's rout,
Din, clamour, uproar, murder's midnight knell,
Hyæna shrieks, the warwhoop scream and yell-
All sounds, however mingled, strange, uncouth,
Resolve to fitness, system, sense, and truth!
To others, noise and jangling; but to thee
'T is one grand, solemn swell of endless harmony.
When dark and unknown terrors intervene,
And men aghast survey the horrid scene;

Then, when rejoicing fiends flit, gleam, and scowl,
And bid the huge tormented tempest howl;
When fire-fraught thunders roll, when whirlwinds
rise

And earthquakes bellow to the frantic skies,
Till the distracted ear, in racking gloom,

Suspects the wreck of worlds, and general doom;
Then HAYDN stands, collecting Nature's tears,
And consonance sublime amid confusion hears.

MADAME DE STAEL.

STAEL, Anne Louisa Germain Necker, baroness de, was the daughter of the celebrated M. Necker, and born at Paris, in 1766. She received a liberal education, and early displayed extraordinary talents; but the new philosophy, as it was called, gave a masculine tone to her mind. In 1786 she married baron de Stael, a Swede, by whom she had four children, two of whom only survived her. In 1789, Madame de Stael began her literary career in 'Letters on the Writings and character of Rousseau,' and soon afterwards she took an active part in the French Revolution. In 1793, her husband being appointed ambassador to the new republic, gave Madame de Stael an opportunity of exerting herself in those political intrigues to which she had a great propensity. Bonaparte, however, had no esteem for female politicians, and in 1803 banished her from the capital. Upon this she went to Germany, next to Italy, and twice visited England. She died July 15th, 1817.