Richmond Palladium (Weekly), Volume 22, Number 11, 3 March 1852 — Page 1

THE RICHMOND PALLADIUM.

■OLMWAT A VAVJB, MU]

Volume XXII.

Friend* and Fellow Citizens: the period for anew election of a eitizen to administer the Executive Government of the United States being not far distant, and the time actually arrived when your thought must be employed in designating the person who is to be clothed with that important trust, it appears to me proper, especially as it may conduoe to a more distinct expression of the pitblin Voice, that I should now apprise you of the resolution 1 have formed, to decline being considered among the number of those out of whom a choice is to be made. I beg you, at the same time, to do me the justice to be assured that this resolution has not been taken without a strict regard to all the considerations appertaining to the relations which binds a dutiful citizen to his country; and that, in withdrawing the tender of serivce, which silence, in my situation, might imply, I am influenced by no diminution of zeal for your future interest! nq deficiency of grateful respect for your {past kindness, but am supported by a full conviction that the step is compatible with both. The acceptance of, and continuance hitherto in, the office to which your suffrages have twice called me, have been a uniform sacrifice of inclination to the opinion of duty, and to a deference or what appeared to be your desire. I constantly hoped that it would have been much earlier in my power, conaiatantly with motives which I was not at liberty to disregard, to return to that retirement from which I have been reluctantly drawn. The strength of my inclination to do this, previous to the last election, had even led to the preparation of an address to declare it to you; but mature reflection on the the* perplexed and critical posture of our affairs with foreign nations, And the unanimous adviee of persons entitled to my confidence, impelled me to abandon the idea. I rejoice that the state of your concerns, external as well as Internal, no longer renders the pursuits of inclination incompatible with the sentiment of duty or propriety; and am persuaded, w atever partiality may be retained for my services, that, m the present circumstances of our country. T? n w*ll not dioopprore aiy determination to retire. The impressions with which I first undertook the arduous trust, were explained on the proper occasion. In the discharge of this trust, I will only say, that I have with good intentions contributed towards the organization and administration of the government the best exertion of which a very fallible judgment was capable. Not unconscious in tho outset of the inferiority of my qualifications, experience, in mV own eyes—perhaps still more in the eyes of others—has strengthened the motives to diffidence of myself; and every day the increasing weight of years admonishes me, more and more, that the shade of retirement is as necessary to me as it will be welcome. Satisfied that if any circumstances have given peculiar value to ray servicos, they were temporary, I have tho consolation to belisve that, while ehoiee and prudence invite me j to quit the political scene, patriotism does not forbid it. In looking forward to the moment which is intended to terminute the career of my public life, my feelings do not pefmit me to suspend the deep acknowledgment of that debt of gratitude which I owe to my beloved country for the many honors it has oottferred upon me: still more for the steadfast confidence with which it has supported me, and for the opportunities I have theno enjoyed of manifesting my inviolable attachment, by service faithful and presevering, thenjh in usefulness unequal to my seal. If benefits have resulted to our country from these lertices, let it always be remembered to your praise, and as an instructive example in our mmals, that, under circumstances in which the passions, agitated in every direction, were liable to mliWl'! amidst appearances sometimes dit*°as; viscissitudes of fortune often discouraging; m situations in which, not unfrequentiy, want of i has countenanced the spirit of criticism —tbe constancy of your support was the essential prop of the efforts, and a guarantee of the plans, by which they were effected. Profoundly penetrated with this idea, I shall e * w 3 r i* *ith me to my grave, as a strong incite*“•■l to unceasing vows; that Heaven may conunne to you the choicest tokens of its benificence, tost your union and brotherly affection may be perpetual; that the free constitution, which is the work of your hands, may be sacredly maintained; that its administration, in every department may be stamped with wisdom and virtue, wat, in fine, the happiness of the people of these States under the auspices of lioerty, may be made complete, by so careful a preservation and TO prudent a nse of this blessing as will acquire to them the glory of recommending it to the applause, the affection, and the adoption of every nation which is yet a stranger to it. Here, perhaps, I ought to stop; but a solicitude for Tour welfare, which cannot end but with my life, and the apprehension of danger natural to that solicitude, urge me, on an occasion like the present, to offer to your solemn contemplation, and to recommend to your frequent review, some sentiments which are the result of much reflection, of no inconsiderable observation, and which appear to me all important to the perman eney of your felicity as a people. These will be afforded to you with the more freedom, as yon can only see in them the disinterested warnings of a parting friend, who can possibly have no personal motive to bias his conasel, nor can I forget, as an encouragement to it, your indulgeatreception of my sentimenta on a former and ndfdissimilar occasion. Interwoven as is the Iterbf liberty with every ligament of your hearts, no. recommendation of mine is nasessary to fortify or confirm the attachwent. The uniljf fit government, which constitutes you one people, also now dear to you. It is jhstiy so; for fti* a mam pillar in the edifice of your real mdepeadenoe-lhe support of your trenquilmr at home, your peace abroad, of your SglMMlfciwsn: foresee that, from different causes and from different quarters, much pains will be taken, many arttaM employed, to weaken in your minds the cawyefiMmof this truth; as this is the point in ypni political fortress against which the batteries of internal and external enemies will be most "’“‘"fly"' 1 ."*" 1 ? Ok"gk mod nsaiuiomsly) directed, —it is of infinite moment that you should properly estimate the imTOTOse value of •your national union to your collective aad individual happiness; that you should cherish * cordial, habitual, and immovable attachment to It, accustoming yourselves to think aad apeak of it as of the palladium of your Political cafcty and prosperity, watching for its

pfCSCftStlo# With jealous anxiety; dflceountenaneing whatever may suggest even a suspicion that it can, in any event, be abandoned; and indignantly frowning upon the first dawning of every attempt to alienate any portion of onr country from the rest, or to enfeeble the saered ties which now link together the various parts. For this you have every inducement of sympathy and interest. Citizens by birth or choice, of a common country, that country has a right to concentrate your affections. The name of American, which belongs to you in your national capacity, must always exalt the just pride of patriotism, more than any appellation deriven from local discriminations. With slight shades of difference, you have the same religion, manners, habits, and political principles. Yon have, in a common cause, fought and triamphed together, the independence and liberty you possess are the work of joint counsels ana joint efforts; of common dangers, sufferings, and success. But these considerations, however powerfully they address themselves to your sensibility, are greatly outweighed by those which apply more immediately to your interests; here every portion of our country finds tiie most commanding motives for carefully guarding and preserving the union of the whole. The North, in an unrestrained intercourse with the South, protected by the equal laws of a common Government, finds, in the productions of the latter, great additional resources of maritime and commercial enterprise, and precious materials of manufucturing industry. Tbe South, in the same intercourse, benefitting by tbe agency of the North, sees its Agriculture grow, and its commerce expand. Turning Sartly into its own channels, the seamen of the forth, it finds its particular navigation invigorated; and while it contributes, in different ways, to nourish and increase the general mass of the national navigation, it looks forward to the protection of a maritime strength to which itself is unequally adapted. The East, in like intercourse with the West, already finds, and in the progressive improvement of interior communication, by land and water, will more and more find, a valuable vent for the commodities which it brings from abroad or manufactures at home. Tbe West derives from the East supplies requisite to its growth and comfort, nnH •!,..* io perhaps of stfll greater consequence.it must, of necessity, owe the secure enjoyment of indispensable outlets for its own productions, to the weight, influence, and the future maritime strength of the Atlantic side of the Union, directed by an indissoluble community of Interest as one nation. Any other tenure by which the West can hold this essential advantage, whether derived from its own separate strength, or from an apostate and unnatural connexion with any foreign power, must be intrinsically precarious. While, then, every part of our country thus feels an immediate and particular interest in union, all the parts combined cannot fail to find, in the united mass of means and efforts, greater strength, greater resource, proportionably greater security from external danger, a less frequent interruption of their peace by foreign nations, and what is of inestimable value, they must derive from union an exemption from those broils and war between ihemselves, which so frequently afflict neighboring countries not tied together by the same government, which their own rivßlships alone would be sufficient to produce, but which opposite foreign alliances, attachments, and intrigues, would stimulate and embitter. Hence, likewise, they will avoid the necessity of those over-grown military establishments,which, Under any form of government. cious to liberty, and Which are to be regarded as particularly hostile to republican liberty; in this sense it is that your union ought to be considered as a main prop of your liberty, and that the love of the one 6ught to endear to you the preservation of the other. These considerations speak a persuasive language to every reflecting and virtuous mind, and exhibit the continuance of the Union as a primary nldec.t. of patrtalb ttpsire. t.itww aitoabti whether a common government can embrace so large a sphere? Let experience solve it. To listen to mere speculation, in such a case, were

criminal. We are authorised to hope, that a proper organization of the whole, with the auxiliary agency of governments for the respective subdivisions, will afford a happy issue to tlie experiment. It is well worth a fair and full experiment. With such powerful and obvious motives to Union, affecting all parts of our country, while experience shall not nave demonstrated its impracticability, there will always be reason to distrust the patriotism of those who, in any quarter, may endeavor to weaken its bands. In contemplating the causes which may disturb the Union; it occurs as a matter of serious concern that any ground shall have been furnished for characterising parties by geographical discriminations —Northern and Southern— Atlantic and Western; whence designing men may endeavor to excite a belief that there is a real difference of local interests and views.— One of the expedients of party to Acquire influence within particular districts, is to misrepresent the opinions and aims of other districts. You, cannot shield yourselves too much against the jealousies and heart burnings which spring from these misrepresentations; they tend to render alien to each other those who ought to be bound together by fraternal affection. The inhabitants of our western country have lately had a useful lesson on this bead; they have seen in the negotiation by the Executive,. and in the unanimous ratification of the Senate, of the treaty with Spain, and in the universal satisfaction at the event throughout the United States, a decisive proof how unfounded were the suspicious propagated among them, of a policy in the General Government, and in the Atlantic States unfriendly to their interests in regard to the Mississippi; they have been witnesses to the formation of two treaties—that with Great Britain and that with Spain, which secure to them everything they could desire in respect to our foreign relations, towards confirming their prosperity.. Will it ifok be their wisdom to rely for the preservation of these advantage* on the Union by whieli they were Srocured? Will they not henceforth be deaf > those advisers, if such there are, who would sever them from their brethren, and connect them with aliens? To the efficacy and pcrmancy of your Union, a government for the whole is indispensable.— 1 No alliance, however strict between tlie parts, ] can be an adequate substitute; they must inevitably experience the infractions and interruptions which ill alliances, in all times have cx- ] pcrienced. Sensible of thia momentious truth, yon have improved upon your first essay, by I the adoption of a .constitution of government better calculated than your former for an intimate Union, and for the efficacious management of your common concerns. This Gov-

kkfi tori Irt all ease tkra atpaCt art fire thj Country's thy OW'i ami Truth's."

RICHMOND, WAYNE COtNTY, IND., MARCH 3, 1852.

erameflt, the off-spring of our oWn choice, oninfluenced and onawed; adopted upon full investigation and mature deliberation, completely free in its principles, in the distribution of its power*, uniting security with energy, And containing within itself a provision for its own amendment, has a juat claim to your Confidence and your support. Re ,pect for its authority, compliance with its laws, acquiescence in its measures, and duties enjoined by the fundamental maxims of true liberty. The basis of our political systems is the right of tho people to make and to alter their constitutions of Government, but the constitution which at any lime exists, till changed by an explicit and authentic act of the whole people, is sacredly obligatory upon all. The very idea of the power and the right of the people to establish Government, pre supposes the duty of every individual to obey the established Government. All obstructions to the execution of the laws, all combinations and associations, under whatever plausible character, with the real design to direct, contrail, counteract, or awe the regular deliberation and action of the constituted authorities, are destructive to this fundamental principle, and of fatal tendency. They serve to organize faction, to give it an artificial and extraordinary force, to put in the place of the delegated will of the nation, the will of a party, often a small but artful and enterprising minority of the community; and, according to the alternate triumphs of different parties, to make the public administration the mirror of the illconcerted and incongruous projects of faction, rather than the organ of consistent and wholesome plans, digested by common counsels, and modified by mutual interests. However combinations or associations of the

above description may now and then answer popular ends, they are likely, in the course of time and things, to become potent engines, by which cunning, ambitious, and unprincipled men will be enabled to subvert tlie power of tbe people, and to usurp for themselves the reins of Government; destroying, afterwards, the very engines which Lad lifted them to unjust dominion. Towards tbe preservation of your Government and the permanency at xrmr kapfijr state, n is requisite, notonly that you steadily discountenance irregular oppositions to Its acknowledged authority, but also that you resist with care the spirit of innovation upon its principles however specious the pretexts. One method of assault may be to effect, in the forms of the Constitution, alterations which will impair the energy of the system, and thus to un dermine what cannot be directly over-thrown, in all the changes to which you may be invited, remember that time and habit are at least as necessary to fix the true character of governments as of other human institutions; that experience the surest standard by which to test the real tendency of the existiug constitution of a country; that facility in changes, upon the credit of mere hypothesis and oplhion, exposes to perpetual changes; from the endless variety of hypothesis and opinion, and remember, especially, that for the efficient management of your common inlerests, in a country so extensive as ours, a Government of as much vigor as is consistent with the perfect security of liberty is indispensible. Liberty itself will find in such a Government, with powers properly distributed and adjusted, its surest guardian. It is, indeed, little else than a name, where the government is too feeble to withstn" J the enterprises of factioti- ,J!> •*<*>> each member of society within the limits prescribed by the laws, and to maintain all in the secure and tranquil enjoyment of the rights of person and

property. 1 have alrerdy intimated to you the danger of parties in the State, with particular reference to the founding of them on geographical discrimination. Let me now take a more comprehensive view, and warn you, in the most solemn manner, against the baneful effects of the spirit of party generally. This spirit, unfortunately, is inseparable from our nature, having its root in the strongest passions of the human mind. It exists under different shapes, in all governments, more or less stifled, controlled, or repressed, but in those of the popular form it is seen in its greatest rankness, and is truly their worst enemy. Tlie alternative domination of’one faction

over another, sharpened by the spirit of revenge, natural to party dissension, which, in different ages and countries, has perpetrated the most horrid enormities, is itself a frightful despotism. But this heads, at length, to more formal and permanent despotism. The disorders and miseries which result, gradually incline the minds of men to seek security and repose in the absolute power of an individual; and sooner or later, the chief of some prevailing faction, more able or more fortunate than his competitors, turns this disposition to the purposes of his own elevation on the ruins of public liberty. Without looking forward to an extremity of this kind, (which, nevertheless, might net to be entirely out of sight,) the common and con* tinued mischiefs of the spirit of party are sufiiqjent to make it the interest and duty of a wise people to discourage and restrain iv It serves always to distract the public councils and enfeeble the public administration. It agitates the community with ill-founded jealousies and false alarms; kindles the animosity of one party against another; foments occasionally, riot and insurrection. It opens the door to foreign Influence and corruption, which find a facilitated access to the Government itself through the channels of party passions. Thus the policy and the will or one country arc subjected to the policy and the will of another. There is an opinion that parties, in free countries, arc useful checks upon the administration of the Government, and serve to keep alive the spirit of liberty. This, within certain limits is probably true, and in governments of a monarchical cast, patriotism may look with indulgence, if not with favor, upon the spirit of party. — But in those of the popular character, in governments purely electire, it is a spirit not to be encouraged. From their natural tendency, it is certain there wiifealwnys be enough of that spirit for every salutary purpose. And there being constant danger of excess, the effort ought to be, by force of public opinion, to mitigate and assuage it, A fire not to be quendned, it demands a uniform vigilance to prevent its | bursting into a flame, lest, instead of wanning, ! it should consume. It is important, likewise, that the habits of thinking, in a free country, should inspire caution in those intrusted with its administration, to confine themselves within their respective 1 constitutional spheres, avoiding, in the exercise of t#e powers of one department, to encroach upon another. The spirit of encroachment tend* to consolidate the powers of all depart-

meat* in one, and thus to create, whatever the form of government, a real despotism. A jast estimate of that love 0f power, aad pronencss to abuse it which predominate in the human j heart, Is sufficient to satisfy os of the truth of j this position. The necessity of reciprocal! checks in the exercise of political power, by j dividing ar.d distributing it info different deposi- j tories, and constituting each tlie guardian of the public Weal, against invasions by the others; has been evinced by experiments, ancient and modern; some of them in our own country, and under our own eyes. To preserve them must be as necessary as to institute them. If in tbe opinion of the people the distribution or modification of the constitutional powers be, in ' any particular, wrong, let it be corrected by an ! amendment in the way the constitution designates. But let there be no change by usurpation; for though this, in one instance, may be tbe instrument of good, it is the customary weapon by which free Governments are destroyed. The precedent must always greatly over- •! balance, ,in permanent evil, any partial or transient benefit,which the uao .can, at any time, Os alt the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indespeesable supports. In vain would that man claim the tribute of patriotism, who should labor to subvert these great pillars of human happiness these firmest props of the duties of men and citizens. The mere politician, equally with the pious man, ought to respect and to cherish them. A volume could not trace all their connexions with private and public facility. Let it simply be aslted, where is the security for property, for reputation, for life, If the sense of religions obligation desert the oaths which are the instruments of investigation in courts of jtt*ticu7 And let us with caution indulge the supposition, that morality can be maintained without religion. Whatever may be conceded to the influence of refined education on minds of peculiar structure, reason and experience forbids us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principles. It is substantially true, tlmtyirtun or k. a —spring of popular government.— The rule, indeed, extends with more or less force ,to every species of free government.Who, that is a sincere friend to it, can look with indifference upon attempts to shake the foundation of the fabric? Promote, then, as an object of primary importance, institutions for the general diffusion of knowledge. Ir. proportion as the structure of a government gives force to public opinion, It ia essential tbat public opinion should be enlightened.

Asa very important source of strength and security, cherish public credit. One method of preserving it is to use it as sparingly as possible; avoid occasions of expense by cultivating peace, but remember, also, that timely disbursements to prepare for danger, frequently prevent much greater disbursements to repel it; avoiding, likewise, the accumulation of debt, aot only by shunning occasions of expense, but by vigorous exertions In time of peace to discharge the debts Which unavoidable ware may have occasioned; not ungenerously throwing upon posterity the burthen which we ourselves ought to bear. The execution of these maxims belongs to your representatives, but it is necessary that public oih4. nn. operate. To 'facilitate tliem to the performance oi ureir duty, it is essential that you should practically bear in mind, that towards the payment of debts there must be reventae; that to' have revenue there must be taxes; that no taxes can be devised which are not more or less inconvenient And unpleasant; that the intrinsic embarrassment, inseparable from the selection of tlie proper objects—which is nlways a choice of difficulties—ought to be a decisive moment for a candid construction of the conduct of the government in making it, and for a spirit of acquiescence in the measures for obtaining revenue, which the public exigencies may at any time dictate. Observe good faith and justice towards all nations; cultivate peace and harmony with all; religion and morality enjoin this conduct; and can it be tlmt good policy does not equally enjoin it? It wIH be wojtliy of a free, enlightened, and at distant period, a great nation, to give mankind tho magnanimous and too novel example of a people always guided by an exalted justice and benevolence. Who can doubt, that in the course of time and things, the fruits of such a plan would nobly repay any temporary advantages which might be lost by a steady adherence to it. Can it be that Providence has not conceded tlie permanent felicity of a nation with its virtue? The experiment, at leust, is recommended by every sentiment which enoblcs human nature. Alasl is it rendered impossible by its vice? In the execution of such a plan, nothing is more essential than that permanent inveterate antipathies against particular natioift, and passionate attachments for others should be ereluded; and that, in place of them, just and amicable feelings towards all should be cultivated. The nation which indulges towards another an habitual hatred or an habitual fondness, is, in some degree, a slave. It is a slave to its animosity or to its affection; either of which Is sufficient to lead it astray from its duty and its interest. lAntipathy in one nation against another disposes each more readily to offer insult and injury, to lay hold of slight causes of umbrage, And' to be haughty ,and intractable, vflien accidental or trifling occasions of dispute occur. Hence frequent collisions, obstinate, envenomed, and bloody contests. The nation, prompted by ill will and resentment, sometimes* impels to war the government, contrary to tlie : best calculations of policy. The government■ sometimes'parti<-ipatse in the national prosperity, and adopts; through passion, what reason would object; at other times it brakes the animosity of the nation subservient to projects of hostility, instigated by pride, ambition, and oilier sinister and pernicious motives. The peace often, sometimes perhaps the liberty, of nations has been the victims. •

So likewise, a passionate attachment of one nation to another produces a variety of evils. Sympathy f<aa**..o favorite nation, facilitating the illusion of an imaginary common interest, in cases where no real common interest exists, and infusing into one the enmities of the other, bet ns Vs the former into a participation in the quarrels and wars of the latter, without adequate inducements or justification. It leads also to concessions to the favorite nation privileges denied to others, which is apt doubly to injure tho* nation making the concessions-; by unnecessarily parting with what ought to have been retained, and by exciting jealousy, ill will, and a disposition to retaliate, in the parties from whom equal privileges withheld; and

[gfveTto ambitious, corrupted or deluded citizens (who devote themselvea to the favorite nation) facility to betray, or sacrifice the interest of their own country, without odinro; sometimes even with equal popularity; gilding with the appearanee of a virtuous sense of obligation, a commendable deference for public opinion, or a laudable zeal for public good, the base of foolish compliances of ambition, corruption or infatuation.

As avenues to foreign influence in innumerable ways, such attachments are particularly alarming to the truly enlightened and independent patriot. How many opportunities do they afford to tamper with domestic fashions, to practise the art of seduction, to mislead public ! opinion, to influence or awe the public councils! Such an attachment of a small or weak, towards a great and powerful nation, dooms the' former to be tbe satellite of the latter. Against the insidious wiles of foreign Influence (I conjure you to believe me, fellow-citi-i zens) the jealousy of a free people ought to be constantly awake; since history and experience Erovc that foreign Influence is one of the moat aneful foes of a republican government. But that jealousy, to be useful, must be impartial; else it becomes the instrument to the very influence to be avoided, instead of a defence against it. Excessive partiality for one foreign nation, and excessive dislike for another, cause those whom they actuate to see danger only on one side, and serve to veil, and even second, the arts of influence on the other. Real patriots, who may resist the intrigues of the favorite, are liable to become suspected and odious; while its tools and dupes usurp the applause and confidence of the people to surrender their integrity. The great rule of conduct for us, in regard to foreign nations, is, in extending our commercial relations, to have with them as little political connexion as possible. So far as we have already formed engagements, let them be ftilfilled with perfect good faith. Here let us atop. Europe has a set of primary interests, which to us have none, or a very remote relation.—

Hence she must be engaged igfrecuto l ?# *b causes or Wlilch are essentially foreign to our concerns. Hence, therefore, H must be unwise in us to implicate ourselves, by artificial ties, in the ordinary vicissitudes of her politics, or the ordinary combinations and colUsions of her friendships ot enmities. Our detached and distant situation invites and enables us to pursue a different course. If we remain one people, under an efficient government, the period is not far off when we may defy material Injury from external annoyance; when we may take such an attitude as will cause the neutrality we may at Any time resolve upon to be scrupulously respected; when beligerent nations, tinder the impossibility of malting acquisitions upon us, will not lightly hazard the giving us provocation, when we may choose peace or war, as our interest, guided by justice, shall counsel. Why forego the advantages of so peculiar a situation? Why quit our own to stand oa foreign ground? Why, by interweaving oUr destiny with that of any part of Europe, entangle our peace and prosperity in the toils of European ambition, rivalßnip, interest, humor, or caprice? If is otir trite policy to steer clear of permanent alliances With any position of tbe foreign worid: so far, I mean,as we are now at liberty to do It; for Un> m* fca not understood as capable of patronizing infidelity to existing engagements. I hold the maxim no loss applicable to public than to private affairs, that honesty is always the best policy. I repeat it, therefore, let those engagements* be observed in their genuine sense. But, in my opinion, it is Unnecessary, and would be unwise to ektend them.

Taking care always to keep ourseltes, by suitable establishments, in a respectable defensive posture, we may safely trust to temporary alliances for extraordinary emergencies. Harmony, and a liberal intercourse with all nation® nr® warn mended by policy, humanity, and interest. But even our commercial policy should hold an equal and impartial hand, neither seeking nor granting exclusive favors or preference; consulting the natural course of things, diffusing and diversifying by gentle means, the streams of commerce, but forcing nothing, establishing, with powers so disposed, in order to give trade a staple course, to define the rights of our merchants, and to enable the Government to support them, conventional rules of intercourse, tne best that present circumstances and mutual opiniohs will permit, but temporary and liable to be, from time to t|me, abandoned or varied, as experience and circumstances shall dictate; constantly keeping in view that it is folly in one nation to look ffir disinterested favors from another; that it must pay, with a portion of its independence, for whatever it may accept under that character; that by such acceptance it may place itself in the condition of having gften equal talents for nominal favors, arid yet of being reproached with ingratitude for not giving more Them can be no greater error than to expect or calculate upon real favors from nation to nation.. It is an illusion which experience must cure, which a just pride ought to discard. * In offering to you, my countrymen, these counsels -of an old and affectionate friend, I dare not hope they will make the strong and lasting impression I could Wish; that they will controll the usual current of the passions, or prevent our nation from running the course which has hitherto marked the destiny of nations; but if I may even flatter myself that they may be productive of some partial benefit, some occasional good; that they may now and then recur to moderate the ftiry of party spirit, to warn against the mischiefs of foreign intrigues, to guard against the impostures of pro* ! tended patriotism; this hope wilt be a full rec- ; ompensc for the solicitude, for your welfare by j which they have been dictated. How far, in the discharge of my official duties, ( have been guided by the principles which have been delineated, the public records, and other evidences of my conduct, Must witness to I you and the world. To myself, the assurance of my own conscience is, that I have at least be- | lieved mesclf to be guided by them. In relation to the still subsisting war in Europe, my proclamation of the 22d of April, 1703, is the index to my plan. Sanctioned by vour approving voice, and by that of your i Representatives of both Houses of Congress, ■ ■ the spirit of that measure has continually governed me, uninfluenced by any attempts to deter or divert me from it. . After deliberate examination, with the aid of) -the best lights I could obtain. I was well satis- j tied that our country, under all the eircumstan- j ces of the case, had a right to take, and was , bound in duty and interest to take, a neutral J position. Having taken it I determined, as fori

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ft* should depend open me, to maintatin it wi*i moderation, jwrrseyeraneo slid firmness. to hold this conduct, It is hot necessary on this occasion to detail. I will only observe, that according to my understanding of the matter, that right, so far from being denied by any of the belligerent powers, has Imp virtually admitted by all. , The duty of bolding a neutral conduct may be inferred, without anything more, from the obligation which justice and humanity impose on every nation, in cases in which it is free to act, to maintain inviolate the relations of -peace and amity towarda other nations. The inducements of interest, for observing that conduct, will best be referred to yburown reflections and experience. With me, a predominant motive has been to endeavor to gain time to our country, to settle and mature its yet recent institutions; and to progress without interruption, to that degree of strength and consistency which is necessary to give it humanly speaking, the command of its own fortunes. •*' Though in reviewing the incidents of my administration, I am unconscious of intentional error, I am, nevertheless, too sensible of my defects not to think it probable that 1 may have committed many errors. Whatever they may be, I fervently beseech the Almighty to avert or mitigate the evil to which they may tend.— I shall also carry with me the hope that my country will never cease toview them with indulgence japd-tlisr,-after forty-five years of my life dedicated to its service with an uprlgjit zeal, the faults of incompetent abilities will be consigned to oblivion, ns myself most soon be to the mansions of rest. Belying on its kindness, in this, ns in other things and actuated by that fervent love towards it which is so natural to a man who views it in the native soil of himself nhd his progenitors for several generations, 1 anticipate,. with pleasing expectation, that retreat in which I promise myself to realize without alloy the sweet rnjnrmrnt nf roirtr ,i “u~ t -. 4 * nr •oW*l r BT ...j ftirow CmzetiC the benign influence of good laws under a free government—the ever favorite object of my heart—and the happy reward, as I trust, of our mutual cares, labors and dangers. GEORGE WASHINGTON. United States, Bept. 17,179(1. i Good ..... “ In a lecture delivered by Governor Everett • before the Mercantile Library Association of Boston, reoently, he related the following incident, which occurred during hie reidence in London, as American Minister: Me received official notice from the authorities of one of the inland counties of England, that an American was confined in one of their public institutions. He was represented as a sailor, half pauper and half rogue, who would be released from confinement upon oondition that he would be taken in charge and provided American, though he would be of little in, in either of his capacities, as pauper or rogue; still, he could be aided and sent home, by the American Consul, aa a distressed seaman. ‘I was proud,' said 'Mr. Everett, ‘to bo the medium of relieving the British Empire of tho burden of supporting one of my countrymen; and I could but add in my letter, in ansfees-ta their local authorities, that were the English KWiiflf resident at Whshington to take charge of all the British subjects who were in the public institutions in the United States, as rouges and paupers, he would have quite an increase in his official duties. Yheuew Minuter Dnmm Utni Britain. It is now officially announced that the Honorable John F. Cramp ton has been appointed Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary from Great to the United States, accepted the appointment of Minister to Florence. Mr. Crampton has for several year* been connected With the British Legation to this country, and a good part of the time as Charge d’Affaires. Though Sir Henry and Lady Bulwer will certainly be missed in the society of Washington, it is yet a subject of congratulation, since they do not return, that wo arc to have here, as the Representative of the Government of Great Britain, a gentleman of the character and experience, and thorough fitness for his high trust, of Mr. Crampton, who ia already bo familiar with the institutions and principles of our Government as to need no probation. — Nat. Intelligencer. New Dmsam Book.— There is anew guide to the interpretation of dreams. An English paper thus puts it:—“To dream of a millstone round your neck is a sign of what you may expect if you get an extravagant wife. To see apples in a dream betokens a wedding, because where vou find apples you may reasonably expect to find pears. To dream that you are lame is a token that you will gel into a hobble. When a young lady dreams of a coffin, it betokens that she should instantly discontinue lacing her stays tightly, and always go warmly and tluckiy shod in wet weather. If you dream of a clock, it it a token tjiat you will gain credit—that is, tick. To dream of fir* is a sign that if you are wise, you will see that the lights in your home are out before you go to bed. To dream that your nose is red at the tip is an intimation that you had better leave off brandy and-water. * To. dream of walking bare footed denotes a journey that you will make bootless.” 9Sr A writer down East has just discovered that the locomotive ia a great moral engine, ami that the more railroads you hare in n country, the lesa demand you will hare for prisons and poor-houses. This seems paradoxical at first, still it is not. The more railroads we have, the more rateable become our crops. With increased crons mmoa—plenty, nnd wtcb plenty, books, newspapers, sad a better class of school teachers. Thus the locomotive not only triumphs over lime and distance, but over ignorance and vice, State prisons, and the gallows.—Never look a piston-rod, therefore, in the face without taking your hat off. crusty old fellow named Splodge, got spunky at an article in the New York Tribune, which he had not sense enough to eoroperhend, and sent a ‘sassy’ letter to the editor, telling him to ‘stop his paper,’ evidently thinking that the establishment would have to close up. _For some time afterwards in w riling so his New York, friends, he would seriously enquire if the Tribune had broke down yet! There is more than one ‘Spludgn’ in tho world.—Circlevillo Herald. ,

Nnmber 11,