HEADS OF THE DEPARTMENTS.
James Madison,Virginia,March 5,1801,Secretary of State.
Samuel Dexter,Massachusetts,(continued in office),Secretaries of Treasury.
Albert Gallatin,Pennsylvania,January 26,1802,
Henry Dearborn,Massachusetts,March 5,1801,Secretary of War.
Benjamin Stoddert,Maryland,(continued in office),Secretaries of the Navy.
Robert Smith,Maryland,January 26,1802,
Joseph Habersham,Georgia,(continued in office),Postmasters General.
Gideon Granger,Connecticut,January 26,1802,
Levi Lincoln,Massachusetts,March 5,1801,Attorneys General.
John Breckenridge,Kentucky,December 23,1805,
Cæsar A. RodneyDelaware,January 20,1807,
SPEAKERS OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.
Nathaniel Macon,North Carolina,Seventh Congress,1801.
Joseph B. Varnum,Massachusetts,Eighth   do.1803.
Nathaniel Macon,North Carolina,Ninth     do.1805.
Joseph B. Varnum,Massachusetts,Tenth    do.1807.

Mr. Jefferson was inducted into office, with the usual imposing ceremonies, on the 4th of March, 1801; on which occasion, deviating from the example of his predecessors, he transmitted to congress a written message, instead of delivering a speech in person—a practice which has been followed by his successors in the presidential chair, without an exception.

This message was a remarkable document, inasmuch as it set forth the "essential principles" of our government in the narrowest compass, and with great clearness and precision of language. These were, "Equal and exact justice to all men, of whatever state or persuasion, religious or political; peace, commerce, and honest friendship with all nations, entangling alliances with none; the support of the state governments, in all their rights, as the most competent administrations for our domestic concerns, and the surest bulwarks against anti-republican tendencies; the preservation of the general government, in its whole constitutional vigor, as the sheet-anchor of our peace at home and safety abroad; a jealous care of the right of election by the people, a mild and safe corrective of abuses, which are lopped by the sword of revolution, where peaceable remedies are unprovided; absolute acquiescence in the decisions of the majority, the vital principle of republics, from which there is no appeal but to force, the vital principle and immediate parent of despotism; a well-disciplined militia, our best reliance in peace, and for the first moments of war, till regulars may relieve them; the supremacy of the civil over the military authority; economy in the public expense, that labor may be lightly burdened; the honest payment of our debts, and sacred preservation of the public faith; encouragement of agriculture, and of commerce as its handmaid; the diffusion of information, and arraignment of all abuses at the bar of the public reason; freedom of religion, freedom of the press, and freedom of person, under the protection of the habeas corpus; and trial by juries impartially selected. These principles form the bright constellation which has gone before us, and guided our steps through an age of revolution and reformation."

The leading events in the presidential career of Mr. Jefferson, will require us to notice the—

Purchase of Louisiana.Attack on the Chesapeake.
War with Tripoli.British Orders in Council.
Murder of Hamilton.Milan Decree.
Rëelection of Jefferson.Embargo.
Conspiracy and Trial of Burr.Election of Mr. Madison.
Difficulties between France and England.

Purchase of Louisiana.—By the treaty of 1783, the Mississippi was made the western boundary of the United States, from its source to the thirty-first degree of latitude, and following this line to the St. Mary's. By a treaty of the same date, the Floridas were ceded to Spain, without any specific boundaries. This omission led to a controversy between the United States and Spain, which nearly terminated in hostilities. By a treaty with Spain, however, in 1795, boundary lines were amicably settled, and New Orleans was granted to American citizens as a place of deposit for their effects for three years and longer, unless some other place of equal importance should be assigned. No other place being assigned within that time, New Orleans continued to be used as before.