MARTIN Van Buren, eighth President, was born at Kinderhook, New York, on the 5th of December, 1782. After receiving a limited education he became a student of law. In 1821 he was chosen United States Senator. Seven years afterward he was elected governor of New York, and was then appointed Minister to England. From that important mission he returned to accept the office of Vice-president.

2. One of the first duties of the new administration was to finish the Seminole War. In the fall, Osceola came to the American camp with a flag of truce; but he was suspected of treachery, seized and sent a prisoner to Fort Moultrie, where he died. The Seminoles, however, continued the war. In December Colonel Zachary Taylor, with a thousand men, marched into the Everglades of Florida, and overtook the savages near Lake Okeechobee. A hard battle was fought, and the Indians were defeated. For more than a year Taylor continued to hunt them through the swamps. In 1839 a treaty was signed, and the Seminoles were slowly removed to the West.

3. In 1837 the country was afflicted with a serious monetary panic. The preceding years had been a time of great prosperity. A surplus of nearly forty million dollars, in the national treasury, had been distributed among the States. Owing to the abundance of money, the credit system was greatly extended. The banks of the country were multiplied to seven hundred. Vast issues of irredeemable paper money increased the opportunities for fraud.

4. The bills of these unsound banks were receivable for the public lands. Seeing that the government was likely to be defrauded out of millions, President Jackson issued an order, called the Specie Circular, by which the land agents were directed to receive nothing but coin in payment for the lands. The effects of this circular followed in the first year of Van Buren's administration. The banks suspended specie payment. In the spring of 1837, the failures in New York and New Orleans amounted to one hundred and fifty million dollars.

5. When Congress convened in the following September, a bill authorizing the issue of ten millions of dollars in treasury notes was passed as a temporary expedient. More important by far was the measure proposed by the President under the name of the Independent Treasury Bill, by which the public funds were to be kept in a treasury established for that special purpose. It was the President's plan thus to separate the business of the United States from the general business of the country.

6. The Independent Treasury Bill was at first defeated, but in the following regular session of Congress the bill was again brought forward and adopted. During the year 1838 the banks resumed specie payments. But trade was less vigorous than before. Discontent prevailed; and the administration was blamed with everything.

7. In the after part of 1837 a portion of the people of Canada attempted to establish their independence. The insurgents found sympathy in the United States. Seven hundred men from New York seized and fortified Navy Island, in the Niagara River. The loyalists of Canada, however, succeeded in firing the Caroline, the supply ship of the adventurers, cut her moorings, and sent the burning vessel over Niagara Falls. For a while the peaceful relations of the United States and Great Britain were endangered. But the President issued a proclamation of neutrality, forbidding further interference with the affairs of Canada.

8. Mr. Van Buren became a candidate for reelection, and received the support of the Democratic party. The Whigs put forward General Harrison. The canvass was one of the most exciting in the history of the country. Harrison was elected. After controlling the government for forty years, the Democratic party was temporarily overthrown. For Vice-president, John Tyler of Virginia was chosen.