expense of educating a competent portion of her youth, chiefly to the knowledge and duties of military life. It is the living armoury of the nation. While the other works of improvement enumerated in the reports now presented to the attention of Congress, are destined to ameliorate the face of nature, to multiply the facilities of communication between the different parts of the Union, to assist the labours, to increase the comforts, and enhance the enjoyment,' of individuals, the instruction acquired at West Point enlarges the dominion and expands the capacities of the mind. Its beneficial results are already experienced in the composition of the army, and their influence is felt in the intellectual progress of society. The institution is susceptible still of great improvement from benefactions proposed by several successive boards of visiters, to whose earnest and repeated recommendations I cheerfully add

my own.

"With the usual reports from the Secretary of the Navy and the Board of Commissioners, will be exhibited to the view of Congress, the execu tion of the laws relating to that department of the public service. The repression of piracy in the West-Indian and in the Grecian seas has been effectually maintained with scarcely any exception. During the war between the governments of Buenos Ayres and of Brazil, frequent collisions between belligerent acts of power and the rights of neutral commerce occurred. Licentious blockades, irregularly enlisted or impressed seamen, and the property of honest commerce seized with violence, and even plundered under legal pretences, are disorders never separable from the conflicts of wars upon the ocean. With a

portion of them the correspondence of our commanders on the eastern aspect of the South American coast, and among the islands of Greece, discover how far we have been involved. In these the honour of our country and the rights of our citizens have been asserted and vindicated. The appearance of new squadrons in the Mediter ranean, and the blockade of the Dardanelles, indicate the danger of other obstacles to the freedom of commerce, and the necessity of keeping our naval force in those seas. To the suggestions repeated in the report of the Secretary of the Navy, and tending to the per manent improvement of this insti tution, I invite the favourable consideration of Congress.

"A resolution of the House of Representatives, requesting that one of our small public vessels should be sent to the Pacific Ocean and South Sea, to examine the coasts, islands, harbours, shoals, and reefs, in those seas, and to ascertain their true situation and de scription, has been put in a train of execution. The vessel is nearly ready to depart; the successful accomplishment of the expedition may be greatly facilitated by suit able legislative provisions, and par ticularly by an appropriation to defray its necessary expense. The addition of a second, and perhaps, a third vessel, with a slight aggra vation of the cost, would contri bute much to the safety of the citizens embarked on this undertaking, the results of which may be of the deepest interest to our country.

"With the report of the Secre tary of the Navy, will be submit ted, in conformity to the act of Congress of the 3rd of March, 1827, for the gradual improvement

of the navy of the United States, statements of the expenditures under that act, and of the measure taken for carrying the same into effect. Every section of that sta→ tute contains a distinct provision, looking to the great object of the whole the gradual improvement of the navy. Under its salutary sanction, stores of ship-timber have been procured, and are in process of seasoning and preservation for the future uses of the navy. Arrangements have been made for the preservation of the live oak timber growing on the lands of the United States, and for its reproduction, to supply at future and distant days, the waste of that most valuable material for shipbuilding, by the great consumption of it yearly for the commercial, as well as for the military marine of our country. The construction of the two dry docks at Charlestown and at Norfolk is making satisfactory progress towards a durable establishment. The examinations and inquiries to ascertain the practicability and expediency of a Marine Railway at Pensacola, though not yet accomplished, have been postponed, but to be the more effectually made. The Navy Yards of the United States have been examined, and plans for their improvement, and the preservation of the public property therein, at Portsmouth, Charlestown, Philadelphia, Washington, and Gosport, and to which two others are to be added, have been prepared, and received my sanction; and no other portion of my public duties has been performed with a more intimate conviction of its importance to the future welfare and security of the Union.

"With the report from the Post

master-general is exhibited a com parative view of the gradual increase of that establishment, from five to five years, since 1792 till this time, in the number of postoffices, which has grown from less than two hundred to nearly eight thousand; in the revenue yielded by them, which from 67,000 dollars has swollen to upwards of 1,500,000, and in the number of post-roads, which, from five thou sand six hundred and forty-two, have multiplied to one hundred and fourteen thousand five hundred and thirty-six. While, in the same period of time, the population of the Union has about thrice doubled, the rate of increase of these offices is nearly forty, and of the revenue, and of travelled miles, from twenty to twenty-five for one. The increase of revenue within the last five years has been nearly equal to the whole revenue of the department in 1812.

"The expenditures of the department during the year which ended on the 1st of July last, have exceeded the receipts by a sum of about 25,000 dollars. The excess has been occasioned by the increase of mail conveyances and facilities, to the extent of near eight hundred thousand miles. It has been sup plied by collections from the postmasters, of the arrearages of preceding years. While the correct principle seems to be, that the income levied by the department should defray all the expenses, it has never been the policy of this government to raise from this establishment any revenue to be applied to any other purposes. The suggestion of the Postmaster-general, that the insurance of the safe transmission of monies by the mail might be assumed by the department, for a moderate and

competent remuneration, will de serve the consideration of Congress, "A report from the commissioners of the public buildings in this city exhibits the expenditure upon them in the course of the current year. It will be seen that the humane and benevolent intentions of Congress in providing, by the act of 20th of May, 1826, for the erection of a penitentiary in this district have been accomplished. The authority of further legisla tion is now required for the removal to this tenement of the offenders against the laws, sentenced to atone by personal confinement for their crimes, and to provide a code for their employment and government while thus confined.

"The commissioners appointed conformably to the act of 2nd of March, 1827, to provide for the adjustment of claims of persons entitled to indemnification under the first article of the treaty of Ghent, and for the distribution among such claimants of the sum paid by the government of Great Britain under the Convention of the 18th of November, 1826, closed their labours on the 30th of August last, by awarding the claimants the sum of one million one hundred and ninety-seven thousand four hundred and twenty-two dollars and eighteen cents; leaving a balance of seven thousand five hundred and thirty-seven dollars and eighty-two cents, which was distributed rateably amongst all the claimants to whom awards had been made, according to the directions of the act.

"The exhibits appended to the report from the Commissioner of the General Land Office, present the actual condition of that common property of the Union. The

amount paid into the Treasury from the proceeds of lands, during the year 1827, and the first half of 1828, falls little short of 2,000,000 of dollars. The propriety of further extending the time for the extinguishment of the debt due to the United States by the purchasers of the public lands, limited by the act of the 21st of March last, to the 4th of July next, will claim the consi❤ deration of Congress, to whose vigilance and careful attention the regulation, disposal, and preservation of this great national inheri➡ tance has by the people of the United States been intrusted.

"Among the important subjects to which the attention of the present Congress has already been invited, and which may occupy their further and deliberate dis cussion, will be the provision to be made for taking the fifth census or enumeration of the inhabitants of the United States. The constitution of the United States requires that this enumeration should be made within every term of ten years, and the date from which the last enumeration commenced was the first Monday of August, in the year 1820. The laws under which the former enumerations were taken, were enacted at the session of Congress immediately preceding the operation. But considerable inconveniences were experienced from the delay of legislation to so late a period. That law, like those of the preceding enumerations, directed that the census should be taken by the marshals of the several districts and territories, under instructions from the Secretary of State. The preparation and transmission to the marshals of those instructions, required more time than was then allowed between

the passage of the law and the day when the enumeration was to commence. The term of six months, limited for the returns of the marshals, was also found even then too short; and must be more so now, when an additional population of at least three million, must be presented upon the returns. As they are to be made at the short session of Congress, it would, as well as from other considerations, be more convenient to commence the enumeration from an earlier period of the year than the 1st of August. The most favourable season would be the spring. On a review of the former enumerations, it will be found that the plan for taking every census has contained improvements upon that of its predecessor. The last is still susceptible of much improvement. The third census was the first at which any account was taken of the manufactures of the country. It was repeated at the last enumeration, but the returns in both cases were necessarily very imperfect. They must always be so, resting of course only on the communications voluntarily made by individuals interested in some of the manufacturing establishments. Yet they contained much valuable information, and may, by some supplementary provision of the law, be

rendered more effective. The columns of age, commencing from infancy, have been confined to a few periods, all under the number of forty-five years. Important knowledge would be obtained by extending those columns, in intervals of ten years, to the utmost boundaries of human life. The labour of taking them would be a trifling addition to that already prescribed, and the result would exhibit comparative tables of longevity highly interesting to the country. I deem it my duty further to observe, that much of the imperfections in the returns of the last and perhaps of preceding enumerations proceeded from the inadequateness of the compensations allowed the marshals and their assistants in taking them.

"In closing this communication, it only remains for me to assure the Legislature of my continued earnest wish for the adoption of measures recommended by me here tofore, and yet to be acted on by them, and of the cordial concurrence on my part in every constitutional provision which may receive their sanction during the session, tending to the general, welfare.

JOHN QUINCEY ADAMS."" Washington, Dec. 2, 1828.

HE late earl of Liverpool

the different branches of public

His mother died while he was an infant. His father, then Mr. Jenkinson, placed him, at a very early age, at a respectable academy at Parson's Green, near Fulham, where he remained until he entered his thirteenth year. He was then removed to the Charter-house, where he continued between two and three years, and considerably increased his acquaintance with classical learning. There are in the possession of one of his schoolfellows several accurate and elegant translations from Greek and Latin authors, as well as many original compositions, manifesting superior taste and judgment, which were produced by him at that time.

No long interval elapsed between his leaving the Charterhouse and his entering Christ Church, Oxford. During the intervening period, his father availed himself of the opportunity, to give a more definite direction to his studies, and to sow the seeds of an extensive acquaintence with state affairs, and with the best models and means of political government. A catalogue of the best writers on VOL. LXX.

and a selection from their purest and ablest works was prepared for him, to blend with his other college occupations. Among other branches of political science, commerce and finance were especially attended to; and while the more abstract departments of knowledge were not neglected, chief attention was paid, by both father and son, to the more practical and popular.

At college Mr. Jenkinson was the companion and friend of Mr. Canning: a circumstance to which Mr. Moore and others have attributed the secession of the latter' from the political faith in which he had been educated. The friendship thus early commenced, was of an unusually permanent character, and had more than once a very important influence on Mr. Canning's public life.

Mr. Jenkinson paid a visit to the metropolis of France about the period of the breaking out of the Revolution, and was at Paris when the Bastille was demolished by the mob. Intimately acquainted with Mr. Pitt, Mr. Jenkinson's residence at Paris was at that time of essential service to the British go2 G