The wreath we place on your honored brow, received its earliest leaves from the hand of Washington.

We cannot expect, with the agency of free and universal suffrage, to be always governed by the wise and the good.

But surely your predecessors in the Chief Magistracy, were men such as never before successively wielded power in any State.

They differed in policy as they must, and yet, throughout their several dynasties, without any sacrifice of personal independence, and while passing from immature youth to ripened age, you were counsellor and minister to them all.

We seem therefore, in this interview with you, to come into the presence of our departed chiefs; the majestic shade of Washington looks down upon us; we hear the bold and manly eloquence of the elder Adams; and we listen to the voices of the philosophic and sagacious Jefferson, the refined and modest Madison, and the generous and faithful Monroe.
"A life of such eminent patriotism and fidelity found its proper reward in your elevation to the eminence from which you had justly derived so many honors.