Franklin Pierce, the fourteenth President, was born at Hillsborough, New Hampshire, November 23, 1804. Upon his graduation from Bowdoin College, he became a successful lawyer. He always showed a fondness for military matters, though not to the extent of neglecting politics and his profession. He was elected to his State Legislature and was a member of Congress from 1833 to 1837, and, entering the Senate in 1839, he remained until 1842, afterward declining a cabinet appointment from President Polk. He volunteered in the Mexican War, commanded a brigade, and showed great gallantry in several battles. He died October 8, 1869. Mr. King, the Vice-President, was in such feeble health that he took the oath of office in Cuba, and, returning to his native State, died April 18, 1853, being the first vice-president to die in office. One remarkable fact should be stated regarding the administration of Pierce: there was not a change in his cabinet throughout his whole term, the only instance of the kind thus far in our history. A TREATY WITH JAPAN. It seems strange that until a few years, Japan was a closed nation to the world. Its people refused to have anything to do with any other country, and wished nothing from them except to be let alone. In 1854, Commodore M.C. Perry visited Japan with an American fleet and induced the government to make a commercial treaty with our own. This was the beginning of the marvelous progress of that country in civilization and education, which forms one of the most astonishing records in the history of mankind. Japan's overwhelming defeat of China, whose population is ten times as great as our own; her acceptance of the most advanced ideas of civilization, and the wisdom of her rulers have carried her in a few years to a rank among the leading powers and justified the appellation of the "Yankees of the East," which is sometimes applied to her people. FILIBUSTERING. Pierce's administration was marked by a number of filibustering expeditions against Spanish possessions in the West Indies. None of them succeeded, and a number of the leaders were shot by the Spanish authorities. The American government offered to purchase Cuba of Spain, but that country indignantly replied that the mints of the world had not coined enough gold to buy it. Could she have foreseen the events of 1898, no doubt she would have sold out for a moderate price.