The Sun.
London, England, 1841-03-27 00:00:00

THE INAUGURAL ADDRESS.

(From the 7 imes.)

Important as the first exposition o'f the policy conse-
quent upon a change of Government in a pori'e ful and
civilised nation must always be, there never was a time
when such information was of more importance than now ;
and, fur this reason, few State papers have possessed so
momentous an interest as that which atiachea to the Inau-
gural Address delivered by General Harrison on his in-
stallation as President of the United States. _ _

The part of this document to which the attention of
Englishmen will naturally first be drawn, and which they
peruse with the most eager and anxious interest, is
that re'ating to the question of peace or war. General
Harrison announces his determination to pursue a friendly
and pacific policy towards all foreign nations ; adding
, not well informed as to the that, " Althocgh, of course
state of any pending negotiations with any of them, I see in
the personal character 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 guarantee
that the harmony so important to the interests of their
subjects, as we'd as cur citizens, will not be interrupted
by the advancement of any claim or pretension upon their
part to which our honour will not permit us to yiel I."
At the same time he expresses his trust, that " his fel-
low-citizens will not sac in his earnest desire to preserve
peace any indication that their rights will ever be sacri-
ficed or the honour of their nation tarnished by any ad-
mission on the part of their chef magistrate unwe rtby of
their former glory.''
The phrasecl. gy here employed is cautieus and diplo-
matic, but not upon that account less worthy of the station
which General Harrison occupies. His calm and digni-
fied tone stands in marked contrast with the insane ravings
of the firebrand report on which we had so lately occasion
to comment, Great Britain is now assured that the Pre-
sident of the United States is alive to the vast stake which
America has in tho preservation of peace, and to the
heinous gui't which she would contract by plunging the
civilized world into an unnecessary and unjustifiable war:
He solemnly declares his opinion that no differenoes exist
between the two countries which may not be amicably
settled—nay, more, that no demand will be made by Eng-
land with which America may not honourably comply.
He cannot be ignorant either of the nature of those de-
mands which England has made in the case of Mr. M'Leod,
or of the impossibility of her receding from them ; and
therefore it may be assumed that these demands are such
as, in her President's opinion, America ought to grant.
In connexion with the friendly language of this Address,
we are happy to perceive that before the termination of the
Session cf Congress (which ended on the 2d inst.) an
altered tone had begun to prevail in the deliberations of
that body. The Committee of Foreign Relations ap-
pointed by the Senate had investigated the papers con-
nected with the Boundary Question, and reported that it
was not expedient to give them publicity, Chet the ques-
tion was in a fair train of settlement, and that the negotia-
tion had been conducted, on the part of Great Britain,
with peaceful, moderate, and equitable views. We trust
that this important element of perplexity in our relations
with the United States may henceforth be considered as
disposed of, at least for the present, unless the braggart
independence of Mair.e should rush upon a piratical war,
in defiance of the remonstrances of the Federal Govern-
ment—an event which we aro not at all disposed to anti-
cipate.
So far everything encourages the hope that peace may
be suffered to continue. The moral influence of the Pre-
sident's address will of course be felt in every part of the
Union, not excepting the State of New York; and this
influence will not be diminished by the character of those
views of constitutional law and domestic policy with the
exposition of which it is principally occupied. We can-
not, however, conceal from our readers the fact that those
views (while their discretion and reasonableness, as ap-
plied to the actual circumstances of the United States,
may be regarded a 3 more than doubtful) forbid us to
hope that the accession of the Harrison Government
will prove any fresh security for the peace of the
world, if the local authorities of New York should
repudiate the mild interference of moral persua-
sion. In any country but America such a declara-
tion of the Chief Magistrate as that from which we
have been-quoting would be regarded as decisive of the
question of peace or war; but in America, and especially
under the Presidency of General Harrison, it cannot be
relied upon as any safe criterion of the probable issue of
eveeta. It is obvious that, unless the central Executive
Government cam exercise some power of coercive interpo-
sition in these matters, the opinion of the most insignificant
functionary upon the immediate theatre of action may be
of more importance than that of the President of the
United States
The theory of Government propounded by General Har-
rison is ultra-democratic, and if carried out will reduce
the President to a mere cipher in the Constitution. Con-
sidering that the party to whom he owes his elevation re-
presents the moneyed interest, which supplies the place
of an aristocracy in America (and whose views upon
financial subjects General Harrison cordially adopts,
throwing overboard the principles of a metallic currency,
and of a treasury subject to the control of the Executive
power), we were scarcely prepared for the extreme deve.
lopement of liberalism which we find in his address. The
new President considers that in the working of the union
of late years there has been a decided tendency to Monar-
chy, arising partly out of defects in the Constitution,
and partly out of the unconstitutional measures of the fac-
tion by which his immediate predecessors in office were
supported. He insists, therefore, upon the necessity of
very strenuous efforts, in order to counteract this supposed
tendency, by diminishing the power and influence of tho
Executive Government. The eligibility of the same indi-
vidual to a second term of the Presidency—the doc-
trine that the President has a share of the legislative
power—the extent of the patronage intrusted to him—
the dependence of the officer at the head of the Tree-
' sury upon the Executive—the interference of the Execu-
tive with the course of legislation in Congress, are all
enumerated by him as among the sources of the dangerous
encroachment against which he warns the people. For
himself, he promises tint he will never again become a
candidate for the Presidency, will never use the legisla-
tive veto, never suffer "an officer of the people, compen-
sated for his services out of their pockets, to become the
pliant instrument of the Executive will," never submit
measures, especially on financial subjects, to the conside-
ration of Congress. He will act in all things as " the
agent, not the principal—the servont, not the master."
These announcements certainly do not hold out the pros-
pect of a very strong Government; and without a strong
Government we do not see how the aggressive tendencies
which particular States are apt to manifest towards Great
Britain can ever be effectually repressed.
General Harrison holds the extreme theory of the in-
dependence and irresponsibility of the separate States
which constitute the Union within their respective juris-
dictions. He is alarmed at the tendency of the Federal
Government to absorb into itself the reserved powers of the
States, and to establish a consolidated power, " leaving
to the State; only the shadow of that independent ac-
tion for which they so zealously contended, and on the pre-
servation of which they relied as the last hope of liberty."
'l he great objection which he feels to that part of the Con-
stitution which makes the President the sole distributor of
patronage, is its effect in " controlling the free opera' ions of
the State Governments." He protests against the ex-
ertion of an influence over particular States even by
" organized associations of citizens requiring com-
pliance with their wishes," referring to the Anti-slavery
agitation. And he lays down the general principles on
which he conceives that the Federal Government ought
to be administered in the following remarkable passages :
" Oar citizens must be content with the exercise of the
powers with which the Constitution clothes them. The
a: tempt of those of one State to control the domestic insti-
tutions of another, can only result in feelings of distrust and
jealousy, the certain harbingers of disunion, violence, civil
war, and t'ee ultimate destruction of our free institutions.
Our confederacy is perfectly illustrated by the terms and
principles governing a common copartnership. There a
fund of power is to be exercised under the direction of the
joint councils of the allied members, but that which has
been reserved by the individual members is intangible by
the common Government or the ind.vidual members com-
posing it. To attempt it fieds no support in the principles
of our Constitution." " Experience has abundantly
' taught we that the agitation by citizens of one part of the
Union of a subject not confided to the general Govern-
ment, but exclusively under the guardianship of the local
authorities, is productive of no ether consequences thee
bitterness, alienation, discord, and injury to the very cause
which is intended to be advanced."
It is evident that with these principles General Hari ison
cannot interfere to rescue Mr. M'Leod from the assumed
jurisdiction of the State of New York, either before or
after teisl, to whatever extremities the authorities of that
State may think proper to proceed, in the (we trust impro-
bable) event of his conviction. Whether upon these prin-
ciples the United States ought not to be considered
as a fraternity of nations united in a league offensive
and defensive against the rest of the world, without
any mutual responsibility cr central control, rather
than as a single nation—whether it is possible for the re-
-I,tions of such a body with other members of the family
of Christendom to be established on any fixed or satis-
factory basis—whether such a state cf things can be recon-
ciled with that code of internation law which has hitherto
governed the intercourse of the civilized world, are ques-
tions which, however existing disputes may terminate, it
so ill be of the utmost importance for the Governments both
of Europe and of America seriously and solemnly to con-
sider.
• (From the Morning Advertiser.)
Little beyond its generally pacific ten dency and ex-
pression is to be found in tire Address of the American
President, from which an opinion may be formed as to the
solution of the questions now pending between Great 13,1-
tain and the United States. With regard to the vital
subjects—the case of Mr. M'Leod and the North-casters!
Boundary—upon which public interest in both countries
concentrates itself, not a single observation occurs to in-
dicate the intentions of the Federal Government. This
omission, however, is satisfactorily account' d for in the
desire expressed by the -President ta hold himself com-
pletely under the direction of Congress, lest the Federal
Government or its Executive branch Should encroach
upon the rights of the States, or of the people, whom they
are appointed to protect and govern, but not to enslave.
than an index to the course
which, under existing cireurnstancee, is likely to he pur-
stitTuhtieonad of
frothsse i',
United
dgesthtnetr rather an essay on the Con.
Stares,
pur-
sued by the Federal Government. In fact, General Har-
rison appears to be fearfully impressed with the appreheesion
that democracy in the theited States will confirm the pre-
dictions of its enemies, and degeacrate into despotism;
or
t t
however,i intemperate
s
and outrageous
taint the interference of the different States with each
other will break up the whole confederacy. We had
augured better results from this first grand experiment of a
people virtually to establish the right of sclire dia
-goeer,i_
We cannot,
ch r e
thegr e
ment, and painfully indeed should w
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proceedings of certain brancheso4fnAifmesetTai...
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and the
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cilizens, but also upon the general progress of the de-
moeratie principle, which must in all quarters of the
"rid, be injured by its recent derogatory m