of
the Country--Introduction of the Railway Locomotive--Trouble with the
Cherokees in Georgia--Death of Adams and Jefferson--Congressional Action
on the Tariff--Presidential Election of 1828.

JAMES MONROE.

James Monroe, the fifth President of the United States, was born at
Monroe's Creek, Westmoreland County, Virginia, April 28, 1758, and died
July 4, 1831. It will be noticed that four out of the first five
Presidents were natives of Virginia, and in course of time three others
followed. It will be admitted, therefore, that the State has well earned
the title of the "Mother of Presidents."

[Illustration: JAMES MONROE.

(1758-1831.) Two terms, 1817-1825.]

Monroe received his education at William and Mary College, and was a
soldier under Washington. He was not nineteen years old when, as
lieutenant at the battle of Trenton, he led a squad of men who captured
a Hessian battery as it was about to open fire. He studied law under
Jefferson, was elected to the Virginia House of Burgesses, and, when
twenty-five years old, was a delegate to the Continental Congress. He
was minister plenipotentiary to France in 1794, but his course
displeased the administration and he was recalled. From 1799 to 1802 he
was governor of Virginia, and, in the latter year, was sent to France by
President Jefferson to negotiate the purchase of Louisiana. In 1811 he
was again governor of Virginia, and shortly afterward appointed
secretary of State by Madison. He also served as secretary of war at the
same time, and, as the treasury was empty, pledged his private means for
the defense of New Orleans. Monroe was of plain, simple manners, of
excellent judgment and of the highest integrity. While his career did
not stamp him as a man of genius, yet it proved him to be that which in
his situation is better--an absolutely "safe" man to trust with the
highest office in the gift of the American people. Under Monroe the
United States made greater advancement than during any previous decade.

Everything united to make his administration successful. The Federal
party having disappeared, its members either stopped voting or joined
the Republicans. Since, therefore, everybody seemed to be agreed in his
political views, the period is often referred to as "the era of good
feeling," a condition altogether too ideal to continue long.

TARIFF LEGISLATION.

Shortly after Monroe's inauguration he made a tour through the country,
visiting the principal ci