Chapter II: Part 2

The foregoing remarks relate almost exclusively to matters connected with our domestic concerns. It may be proper, however, that I should give some indications to my fellow-citizens of my proposed course of conduct in the management of our foreign relations. I assure them, therefore, that it is my intention to use every means in my power to preserve the friendly intercourse which now so happily subsists with every foreign nation, and that although, of course, not well informed as to the state of pending negotiations with any of them, I see in the personal characters of the sovereigns, as well as in the mutual interests of our own and of the governments with which our relations are most intimate, a pleasing guaranty that the harmony so important to the interests of their subjects as well as of our citizens will not be interrupted by the advancement of any claim or pretension upon their part to which our honor would not permit us to yield. Long the defender of my country's rights in the field, I trust that my fellow-citizens will not see in my earnest desire to preserve peace with foreign powers any indication that their rights will ever be sacrificed or the honor of the nation tarnished by any admission on the part of their Chief Magistrate unworthy of their former glory. In our intercourse with our aboriginal neighbors the same liberality and justice which marked the course prescribed to me by two of my illustrious predecessors when acting under their direction in the discharge of the duties of superintendent and commissioner shall be strictly observed. I can conceive of no more sublime spectacle, none more likely to propitiate an impartial and common Creator, than a rigid adherence to the principles of justice on the part of a powerful nation in its transactions with a weaker and uncivilized people whom circumstances have placed at its disposal.

Before concluding, fellow-citizens, I must say something to you on the subject of the parties at this time existing in our country. To me it appears perfectly clear that the interest of that country requires that the violence of the spirit by which those parties are at this time governed must be greatly mitigated, if not entirely extinguished, or consequences will ensue which are appalling to be thought of.

If parties in a republic are necessary to secure a degree of vigilance sufficient to keep the public functionaries within the bounds of law and duty, at that point their usefulness ends. Beyond that they become destructive of public virtue, the parent of a spirit antagonist to that of liberty, and eventually its inevitable conqueror. We have examples of republics where the love of country and of liberty at one time were the dominant passions of the whole mass of citizens, and yet, with the continuance of the name and forms of free government, not a vestige of these qualities remaining in the bosoms of any one of its citizens. It was the beautiful remark of a distinguished English writer that "in the Roman senate Octavius had a party and Antony a party, but the Commonwealth had none." Yet the senate continued to meet in the temple of liberty to talk of the sacredness and beauty of the Commonwealth and gaze at the statues of the elder Brutus and of the Curtii and Decii, and the people assembled in the forum, not, as in the days of Camillus and the Scipios, to cast their free votes for annual magistrates or pass upon the acts of the senate, but to receive from the hands of the leaders of the respective parties their share of the spoils and to shout for one or the other, as those collected in Gaul or Egypt and the lesser Asia would furnish the larger dividend. The spirit of liberty had fled, and, avoiding the abodes of civilized man, had sought protection in the wilds of Scythia or Scandinavia; and so under the operation of the same causes and influences it will fly from our Capitol and our forums. A calamity so awful, not only to our country, but to the world, must be deprecated by every patriot and every tendency to a state of things likely to produce it immediately checked. Such a tendency has existed--does exist. Always the friend of my countrymen, never their flatterer, it becomes my duty to say to them from this high place to which their partiality has exalted me that there exists in the land a spirit hostile to their best interests--hostile to liberty itself. It is a spirit contracted in its views, selfish in its objects. It looks to the aggrandizement of a few even to the destruction of the interests of the whole. The entire remedy is with the people. Something, however, may be effected by the means which they have placed in my hands. It is union that we want, not of a party for the sake of that party, but a union of the whole country for the sake of the whole country, for the defense of its interests and its honor against foreign aggression, for the defense of those principles for which our ancestors so gloriously contended. As far as it depends upon me it shall be accomplished. All the influence that I possess shall be exerted to prevent the formation at least of an Executive party in the halls of the legislative body. I wish for the support of no member of that body to any measure of mine that does not satisfy his judgment and his sense of duty to those from whom he holds his appointment, nor any confidence in advance from the people but that asked for by Mr. Jefferson, "to give firmness and effect to the legal administration of their affairs."

I deem the present occasion sufficiently important and solemn to justify me in expressing to my fellow-citizens a profound reverence for the Christian religion and a thorough conviction that sound morals, religious liberty, and a just sense of religious responsibility are essentially connected with all true and lasting happiness; and to that good Being who has blessed us by the gifts of civil and religious freedom, who watched over and prospered the labors of our fathers and has hitherto preserved to us institutions far exceeding in excellence those of any other people, let us unite in fervently commending every interest of our beloved country in all future time.

Fellow-citizens, being fully invested with that high office to which the partiality of my countrymen has called me, I now take an affectionate leave of you. You will bear with you to your homes the remembrance of the pledge I have this day given to discharge all the high duties of my exalted station according to the best of my ability, and I shall enter upon their performance with entire confidence in the support of a just and generous people.

MARCH 4, 1841.

SPECIAL MESSAGE.

March 5, 1841.
_To the Senate of the United States_:

I hereby withdraw all nominations made to the Senate on or before the 3d instant and which were not definitely acted on at the close of its session on that day.

W.H. HARRISON.

PROCLAMATION.

[From Statutes at Large (Little, Brown & Co.), Vol. XI, p. 786.]

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

A PROCLAMATION.

Whereas sundry important and weighty matters, principally growing out of the condition of the revenue and finances of the country, appear to me to call for the consideration of Congress at an earlier day, than its next annual session, and thus form an extraordinary occasion, such as renders necessary, in my judgment, the convention of the two Houses as soon as may be practicable:

I do therefore by this my proclamation convene the two Houses of Congress to meet in the Capitol, at the city of Washington, on the last Monday, being the 31st day, of May next; and I require the respective Senators and Representatives then and there to assemble, in order to receive such information respecting the state of the Union as may be given to them and to devise and adopt such measures as the good of the country may seem to them, in the exercise of their wisdom and discretion, to require.

In testimony whereof I have caused the seal of the United States to be hereunto affixed, and signed the same with my hand.

[SEAL.]

Done at the city of Washington, the 17th day of March, A.D. 1841, and of the Independence of the United States the sixty-fifth.

W.H. HARRISON

By the President:
DANIEL WEBSTER,
_Secretary of State_.

DEATH OF PRESIDENT HARRISON.

PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENT.

[From the Daily National Intelligencer, April 5, 1841.]

WASHINGTON, _April 4, 1841_.

An all-wise Providence having suddenly removed from this life William Henry Harrison, late President of the United States, we have thought it our duty, in the recess of Congress and in the absence of the Vice-President from the seat of Government, to make this afflicting bereavement known to the country by this declaration under our hands.

He died at the President's house, in this city, this 4th day of April, A.D. 1841, at thirty minutes before 1 o'clock in the morning.

The people of the United States, overwhelmed, like ourselves, by an event so unexpected and so melancholy, will derive consolation from knowing that his death was calm and resigned, as his life has been patriotic, useful, and distinguished, and that the last utterance of his lips expressed a fervent desire for the perpetuity of the Constitution and the preservation of its true principles. In death, as in life, the happiness of his country was uppermost in his thoughts.

DANIEL WEBSTER,
_Secretary of State_.
THOMAS EWING,
_Secretary of the Treasury_.
JOHN BELL,
_Secretary of War_.
J.J. CRITTENDEN,
_Attorney-General_.
FRANCIS GRANGER,
_Postmaster-General_.

[The Secretary of the Navy was absent from the city.]

ANNOUNCEMENT TO THE VICE-PRESIDENT.

[From the Daily National Intelligencer, April 5, 1841.]

WASHINGTON, _April 4, 1841_.
JOHN TYLER,
_Vice-President of the United States_.

Sir: It has become our most painful duty to inform you that William Henry Harrison, late President of the United States, has departed this life.

This distressing event took place this day at the President's mansion, in this city, at thirty minutes before 1 in the morning.

We lose no time in dispatching the chief clerk in the State Department as a special messenger to bear you these melancholy tidings.

We have the honor to be, with the highest regard, your obedient servants,

DANIEL WEBSTER,
_Secretary of State_.
THOMAS EWING,
_Secretary of the Treasury_.
JOHN BELL,
_Secretary of War_.
JOHN J. CRITTENDEN,
_Attorney-General_.
FRANCIS GRANGER,
_Postmaster-General_.

ANNOUNCEMENT TO REPRESENTATIVES OF THE UNITED STATES ABROAD.

[From official records in the State Department.]

DEPARTMENT OF STATE,
_Washington, April 4, 1841_.

Sir: It has become my most painful duty to announce to you the decease of William Henry Harrison, late President of the United States.

This afflicting event took place this day at the Executive Mansion, in this city, at thirty minutes before 1 o'clock in the morning.

I am, sir, your obedient servant,

DANL. WEBSTER.

ANNOUNCEMENT TO REPRESENTATIVES OF FOREIGN GOVERNMENTS IN THE UNITED STATES.

[From official records in the State Department.]

DEPARTMENT OF STATE,
_Washington, April 5, 1841_.

Sir: It is my great misfortune to be obliged to inform you of an event not less afflicting to the people of the United States than distressing to my own feelings and the feelings of all those connected with the Government.

The President departed this life yesterday at thirty minutes before 1 o'clock in the morning.

You are respectfully invited to attend the funeral ceremonies, which will take place on Wednesday next, and with the particular arrangements for which you will be made acquainted in due time.

Not doubting your sympathy and condolence with the Government and people of the country on this bereavement, I have the honor to be, sir, with high consideration, your obedient servant,

DANL. WEBSTER.

ANNOUNCEMENT TO THE ARMY.

[From official records in the War Department.]

DEPARTMENT OF WAR,
_Washington April 5, 1841_.

It is with feelings of the deepest sorrow that the Secretary of War announces to the Army the death of the President of the United States. William Henry Harrison is no more. His long and faithful services in many subordinate but important stations, his recent elevation to the highest in honor and power, and the brief term allotted to him in the enjoyment of it are circumstances of themselves which must awaken the liveliest sympathy in every bosom. But these are personal considerations; the dispensation is heaviest and most afflicting on public grounds. This great calamity has befallen the country at a period of general anxiety for its present, and some apprehension for its future, condition--at a time when it is most desirable that all its high offices should be filled and all its high trusts administered in harmony, wisdom, and vigor. The generosity of character of the deceased, the conspicuous honesty of his principles and purposes, together with the skill and firmness with which he maintained them in all situations, had won for him the affection and confidence of his countrymen; but at the moment when by their voice he was raised to a station in the discharge of the powers and duties of which the most beneficent results might justly have been anticipated from his great experience, his sound judgment, the high estimation in which he was held by the people, and his unquestioned devotion to the Constitution and to the Union, it has pleased an all-wise but mysterious Providence to remove him suddenly from that and every other earthly employment.

While the officers and soldiers of the Army share in the general grief which these considerations so naturally and irresistibly inspire, they will doubtless be penetrated with increased sensibility and feel a deeper concern in testifying in the manner appropriate to them the full measure of a nation's gratitude for the eminent services of the departed patriot and in rendering just and adequate honors to his memory because he was himself a soldier, and an approved one, receiving his earliest lessons in a camp, and, when in riper years called to the command of armies, illustrating the profession of arms by his personal qualities and contributing largely by his successes to the stock of his country's glory.

It is to be regretted that the suddenness of the emergency has made it necessary to announce this sad event in the absence of the Vice-President from the seat of Government; but the greatest confidence is felt that he will cordially approve the sentiments expressed, and that he will in due time give directions for such further marks of respect not prescribed by the existing regulations of the Army as may be demanded by the occasion.

JOHN BELL, _Secretary of War_.

GENERAL ORDERS, No. 20.

HEADQUARTERS OF THE ARMY,
ADJUTANT-GENERAL'S OFFICE,
_Washington, April 7, 1841_.

The death of the President of the United States having been officially announced from the War Department, the Major-General Commanding in Chief communicates to the Army the melancholy intelligence with feelings of the most profound sorrow. The long, arduous, and faithful military services in which President Harrison has been engaged since the first settlement of the Western country, from the rank of a subaltern to that of a commander in chief, are too well known to require a recital of them here. It is sufficient to point to the fields of Tippecanoe, the banks of the Miami, and the Thames, in Upper Canada, to recall to many of the soldiers of the present Army the glorious results of some of his achievements against the foes of his country, both savage and civilized.

The Army has on former occasions been called upon to mourn the loss of distinguished patriots who have occupied the Presidential chair, but this is the first time since the adoption of the Constitution it has to lament the demise of a President while in the actual exercise of the high functions of the Chief Magistracy of the Union.

The members of the Army, in common with their fellow-citizens of all classes, deeply deplore this national bereavement; but although they have lost a friend ever ready to protect their interests, his bright example in the paths of honor and glory still remains for their emulation.

The funeral honors directed to be paid by the troops in paragraph 523 of the General Regulations will be duly observed, and the troops at the several stations will be paraded at 10 o'clock a.m., when this order will be read, after which all labors for the day will cease; the national flag will be displayed at half-staff; at dawn of day thirteen guns will be fired, besides the half-hour guns as directed by the Regulations, and at the close of the day a national salute. The standards, guidons, and colors of the several regiments will be put in mourning for the period of six months, and the officers will wear the usual badge of mourning on the left arm above the elbow and on the hilt of the sword for the same period.

By order of Alexander Macomb, Major-General Commanding in Chief:
R. JONES, _Adjutant-General_.

ANNOUNCEMENT TO THE NAVY.

[From official records in the Navy Department.]

GENERAL ORDER.

NAVY DEPARTMENT, _April 5, 1841_.

The Department announces to the officers of the Navy and Marine Corps the death of William Henry Harrison, late President of the United States, which occurred at the Executive Mansion, in the city of Washington, on the morning of the 4th instant, and directs that, uniting with their fellow-citizens in the manifestations of their respect for the exalted character and eminent public services of the illustrious deceased, and of their sense of the bereavement the country has sustained by this afflicting dispensation of Providence, they wear the usual badge of mourning for six months.

The Department further directs that funeral honors be paid him at each of the navy-yards and on board each of the public vessels in commission by firing twenty-six minute guns, commencing at 12 o'clock m., on the day after the receipt of this order, and by wearing their flags at half-mast for one week.

J.D. SIMMS
_Acting Secretary of the Navy_.

OFFICIAL ARRANGEMENTS FOR THE FUNERAL.

[From official records in the State Department.]

WASHINGTON, _April 4, 1841_.

The circumstances in which we are placed by the death of the President render it indispensable for us, in the recess of Congress and in the absence of the Vice-President, to make arrangements for the funeral solemnities. Having consulted with the family and personal friends of the deceased, we have concluded that the funeral be solemnized on Wednesday, the 7th instant, at 12 o'clock. The religious services to be performed according to the usage of the Episcopal Church, in which church the deceased most usually worshiped. The body to be taken from the President's house to the Congress Burying Ground, accompanied by a military and a civic procession, and deposited in the receiving tomb.

The military arrangements to be under the direction of Major-General Macomb, the General Commanding in Chief the Army of the United States, and Major-General Walter Jones, of the militia of the District of Columbia.

Commodore Morris, the senior captain in the Navy now in the city, to have the direction of the naval arrangements.

The marshal of the District to have the direction of the civic procession, assisted by the mayors of Washington, Georgetown, and Alexandria, the clerk of the Supreme Court of the United States, and such other citizens as they may see fit to call to their aid.

John Quincy Adams, ex-President of the United States, members of Congress now in the city or its neighborhood, all the members of the diplomatic body resident in Washington, and all officers of Government and citizens generally are invited to attend.

And it is respectfully recommended to the officers of Government that they wear the usual badge of mourning.

DANL. WEBSTER,
_Secretary of State_.
T. EWING,
_Secretary of the Treasury_.
JNO. BELL,
_Secretary of War_.
J.J. CRITTENDEN,
_Attorney-General_.
FR. GRANGER,
_Postmaster-General_.

[The Secretary of the Navy was absent from the city.]

[From official records in the War Department.]

DISTRICT ORDERS.

WASHINGTON, _April 5, 1841_.

The foregoing notice from the heads of the Executive Departments of the Government informs you what a signal calamity has befallen us in the death of the President of the United States, and the prominent part assigned you in those funeral honors which may bespeak a nation's respect to the memory of a departed patriot and statesman, whose virtue and talents as a citizen and soldier had achieved illustrious services, and whose sudden death has disappointed the expectation of still more important benefits to his country.

With a view to carry into effect the views of these high officers of Government in a manner befitting the occasion and honorable to the militia corps of this District, I request the general and field officers, the general staff, and the commandants of companies to assemble at my house to-morrow, Tuesday, April 6, precisely at 10 o'clock, to report the strength and equipment of the several corps of the militia and to receive final instructions for parade and arrangement in the military part of the funeral procession.

The commandants of such militia corps from the neighboring States as desire to unite in the procession are respectfully invited to report to me as soon as practicable their intention, with a view to arrange them in due and uniform order as a part of the general military escort.

The detail of these arrangements, to which all the military accessories, both of the regulars and militia, are expected to conform, will be published in due time for the information of all.

For the present it is deemed sufficient to say that the whole military part of the procession, including the regular troops of every arm and denomination and all the militia corps, whether of this District or of the States, will be consolidated in one column of escort, whereof Major-General Macomb, Commander of the Army of the United States, will take the general command, and Brigadier-General Roger Jones, Adjutant-General of the Army of the United States, will act as adjutant-general and officer of the day.

WALTER JONES,
_Maj. Gen., Comdg. the Militia of the District of Columbia_.

ADJUTANT-GENERAL'S OFFICE,
_Washington, April 6, 1841_.

The Major-General Commanding the Army of the United States and the major-general commanding the militia of the District of Columbia, having been charged by the executive officers of the Government with the military arrangements for the funeral honors to be paid to the patriot and illustrious citizen, William Henry Harrison, late President of the United States, direct the following order of arrangement:

ORDER OF THE PROCESSION.

FUNERAL ESCORT. (In column of march.)

_Infantry_.

Battalion of Baltimore volunteers. Company of Annapolis volunteers. Battalion of Washington volunteers.

_Marines_.

United States Marine Corps.

Corps of commissioned officers of the Baltimore volunteers, headed by a major-general.

_Cavalry_.

Squadron of Georgetown Light Dragoons.

_Artillery_.

Troop of United States light artillery.

Dismounted officers of volunteers, Marine Corps, Navy, and Army in the order named.

Mounted officers of volunteers, Marine Corps, Navy, and Army in the order named.

Major-General Walter Jones, commanding the militia.

Aids-de-camp.

Major-General Macomb, Commanding the Army.

Aids-de-camp.

CIVIC PROCESSION.

United States marshal for the District of Columbia and clerk of the Supreme Court.

The mayors of Washington, Georgetown, and Alexandria.

Clergy of the District of Columbia and elsewhere.

Physicians to the President.

Funeral car with the corpse.

_Pallbearers_.--R. Cutts, esq., for Maine; Hon. J.B. Moore, for New Hampshire; Hon. C. Gushing, Massachusetts; M. St. C. Clarke, esq., Rhode Island; W.B. Lloyd, esq., Connecticut; Hon. Hiland Hall, Vermont; General John Granger, New York; Hon. G.C. Washington, New Jersey; M. Willing, esq., Pennsylvania; Hon. A. Naudain, Delaware; David Hoffman, esq., Maryland; Major Camp, Virginia; Hon. E.D. White, North Carolina; John Carter, esq., South Carolina; General D.L. Clinch, Georgia; Th. Crittenden, esq., Kentucky; Colonel Rogers, Tennessee; Mr. Graham, Ohio; M. Durald, esq., Louisiana; General Robert Hanna, Indiana; Anderson Miller, esq., Mississippi; D.G. Garnsey, esq., Illinois; Dr. Perrine, Alabama; Major Russell, Missouri; A.W. Lyon, esq., Arkansas; General Howard, Michigan; Hon. J.D. Doty, Wisconsin; Hon. C. Downing, Florida; Hon. W.B. Carter, Iowa; R. Smith, esq., District of Columbia.

Family and relatives of the late President.

The President of the United States and heads of Departments.

Ex-President Adams.

The Chief Justice and associate justices of the Supreme Court and district judges of the United States.

The President of the Senate _pro tempore_ and Secretary.

Senators and officers of the Senate.

Foreign ministers and suites.

United States and Mexican commissioners for the adjustment of claims under the convention with Mexico.

Members of the House of Representatives, and officers.

Governors of States and Territories and members of State legislatures.

Judges of the circuit and criminal courts of the District of Columbia, with the members of the bar and officers of the courts.

The judges of the several States.

The Comptrollers of the Treasury, Auditors, Treasurer, Register, Solicitor, and Commissioners of Land Office, Pensions, Indian Affairs, Patents, and Public Buildings.

The clerks, etc., of the several Departments, preceded by their respective chief clerks, and all other civil officers of the Government.

Officers of the Revolution.

Officers and soldiers of the late war who served under the command of the late President.

Corporate authorities of Washington.

Corporate authorities of Georgetown.

Corporate authorities of Alexandria.

Such societies and fraternities as may wish to join the procession, to report to the marshal of the District, who will assign them their respective positions.

Citizens and strangers.

The troops designated to form the escort will assemble in the avenue north of the President's house, and form line precisely at 11 o'clock a.m. on Wednesday, the 7th instant, with its right (Captain Ringgold's troop of light artillery) resting opposite the western gate.

The procession will move precisely at 12 o'clock m., when minute guns will be fired by detachments of artillery stationed near St. John's church and the City Hall, and by the Columbian Artillery at the Capitol. At the same hour the bells of the several churches in Washington, Georgetown, and Alexandria will be tolled.

At sunrise to-morrow, the 7th instant, a Federal salute will be fired from the military stations in the vicinity of Washington, minute guns between the hours of 12 and 3, and a national salute at the setting of the sun.

The usual badge of mourning will be worn on the left arm and on the hilt of the sword.

The Adjutant-General of the Army is charged with the military arrangements of the day, aided by the Assistant Adjutants-General on duty at the Headquarters of the Army.

The United States marshal of the District has the direction of the civic procession, assisted by the mayors of the cities of the District and the clerk of the Supreme Court of the United States.

By order:
ROGER JONES,
_Adjutant-General United States Army_.

CERTIFICATE OF THE DEATH OF PRESIDENT HARRISON.

[From official records, written on parchment, in the State Department.]

WASHINGTON, _April 4, A.D. 1841_.

William Henry Harrison, President of the United States, departed this life at the President's house, in this city, this morning, being Sunday, the 4th day of April, A.D. 1841, at thirty minutes before 1 o'clock in the morning; we whose names are hereunto subscribed being in the house, and some of us in his immediate presence, at the time of his decease.

W.W. SEATON, _Mayor of Washington_. DANL. WEBSTER, _Secretary of State_. THOMAS MILDER, M.D., _Attending Physician_. THOMAS EWING, _Secretary of the Treasury_. ASHTON ALEXANDER, M.D., _Consulting Physician_. JNO. BELL, _Secretary of War_. WM. HAWLEY, _Rector of St. John's Church_. J.J. CRITTENDEN, _Attorney-General_. A. HUNTER, _Marshal of the District of Columbia_. FR. GRANGER, _Postmaster-General_. WM. THOS. CARROLL, _Clerk of Supreme Court U.S._ FLETCHER WEBSTER, _Chief Clerk in the State Dept_. JOHN CHAMBERS, C.S. TODD DAVID O. COUPLAND, _Of the President's Family_.

Let this be duly recorded and placed among the rolls.

DANL. WEBSTER,
_Secretary of State_.

Recorded in Domestic Letter Book by--
A.T. McCORMICK.

REPORT OF THE PHYSICIANS.

[From the Daily National Intelligencer, April 5, 1841.]

WASHINGTON, _April 4, 1841_.

Hon. D. WEBSTER,
_Secretary of State_.

Dear Sir: In compliance with the request made to us by yourself and the other gentlemen of the Cabinet, the attending and consulting physicians have drawn up the abstract of a report on the President's case, which I herewith transmit to you.

Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

THO. MILDER,
_Attending Physician_.

On Saturday, March 27, 1841, President Harrison, after several days' previous indisposition, was seized with a chill and other symptoms of fever. The next day pneumonia, with congestion of the liver and derangement of the stomach and bowels, was ascertained to exist. The age and debility of the patient, with the immediate prostration, forbade a resort to general blood letting. Topical depletion, blistering, and appropriate internal remedies subdued in a great measure the disease of the lungs and liver, but the stomach and intestines did not regain a healthy condition. Finally, on the 3d of April, at 3 o'clock p. m., profuse diarrhea came on, under which he sank at thirty minutes to 1 o'clock on the morning of the 4th.

The last words uttered by the President, as heard by Dr. Worthington, were these: "Sir, I wish you to understand the true principles of the Government. I wish them carried out. I ask nothing more."

THO. MILLER, M.D., _Attending Physician_. FRED. MAY, M.D., N.W. WORTHINGTON, M.D., J.C. HALL, M.D., ASHTON ALEXANDER, M.D., _Consulting Physicians_.

OATH OF OFFICE ADMINISTERED TO PRESIDENT JOHN TYLER IN THE PRESENCE OF THE CABINET.[A]

[From the Daily National Intelligencer, April 7, 1841.]

I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States.

JOHN TYLER
APRIL 6, 1841.

[Footnote A: The Secretary of the Navy was absent from the city.]

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA,
_City and County of Washington, ss_:

I, William Cranch, chief judge of the circuit court of the District of Columbia, certify that the above-named John Tyler personally appeared before me this day, and although he deems himself qualified to perform the duties and exercise the powers and office of President on the death of William Henry Harrison, late President of the United States, without any other oath than that which he has taken as Vice-President, yet as doubts may _arise_, and for greater caution, took and subscribed the foregoing oath before me.

W. CRANCH.
APRIL 6, 1841.

PROCLAMATION.

TO THE PEOPLE OF THE UNITED STATES.

A RECOMMENDATION.

WASHINGTON, _April 13, 1841_.

When a Christian people feel themselves to be overtaken by a great public calamity, it becomes them to humble themselves under the dispensation of Divine Providence, to recognize His righteous government over the children of men, to acknowledge His goodness in time past, as well as their own unworthiness, and to supplicate His merciful protection for the future.

The death of William Henry Harrison, late President of the United States, so soon after his elevation to that high office, is a bereavement peculiarly calculated to be regarded as a heavy affliction and to impress all minds with a sense of the uncertainty of human things and of the dependence of nations, as well as individuals, upon our Heavenly Parent.

I have thought, therefore, that I should be acting in conformity with the general expectation and feelings of the community in recommending, as I now do, to the people of the United States of every religious denomination that, according to their several modes and forms of worship, they observe a day of fasting and prayer by such religious services as may be suitable on the occasion; and I recommend Friday, the 14th day of May next, for that purpose, to the end that on that day we may all with one accord join in humble and reverential approach to Him in whose hands we are, invoking Him to inspire us with a proper spirit and temper of heart and mind under these frowns of His providence and still to bestow His gracious benedictions upon our Government and our country.

JOHN TYLER.

[For "A resolution manifesting the sensibility of Congress upon the event of the death of William Henry Harrison, late President of the United States," see p. 55.]