Edwardsville spectator. [volume] (Edwardsville, Ill.) 1819-1826, 1825-08-13
From the National Crisis.


From the National Crisis.
GOVERNOR CLlNTON'S ADDRESS.
The following is the reply OF his Ex-
ce'lency De Wit Clinton, to the address
Of Mr.. Bcnham, delivered in the FIRST
Presbyterian Church, on Tuesday, the
10Th instant.
CITIZENS OF ClycINNATf,
The favorable notice taken OF my con-
duct, by the gentleman Of distinguished
talents who represents yon on this occa-
sion, has made an impression on my
mind, which will endure with life, and
which no event can o5liierate. IT is
true that have endeavored to deserve
we'll ofour conn'ry, and it is equally true
that my exertions have been abundantly
rewarded in its approving kindness. If
my future course shall be marked with
any beneficial results 10 the community,
it must be ascrbed to the animatng and
encouraging voice Of my fellow cnizsns.
But without further reference to myself,
permit me to make few remarks on
oubject Of some, a2d certainly much
greater, importance.
The frs, object that strikes the view
OF the stranger, on entering the regions
Of the West, is the superior and extraor.
binary richness of the soil; cvinced, if
under cultivation, by the i'm nense guam
THY and excellent quality Of It's vegeta-
Bile productions, and ifstill unrec lsimed,
by the towering and wide spreed forests
which abound with trees of extraortina-
ny dimensions, and with all kinds of
plants app icable to the purposes of hui
man accommodation. AS he proceeds,
he will find that these regions are un-
commonly well watered--ihat great
proportion is not yet occupied, and that
in some parts, settlements are, p" like an
gels visits, few and far between.'' and
that in others, they assume moro COM
pact character, and appear rising in graz
tlation from Inc solitary mansion, to the
hamlet, village and town; but surely he
would not anticipate the view of fair
and extensive city, spvinging up on the
beautiful river, like Venus from the
ocean. Indeed, if i, had been predicted
some years ago, that in this place, the
site ola military encampmsnt, surround.
ed by hostile savages, and uodden over
by the beasts of the wilderness, there
would arise, in less than a quarter Of a
cen'ury.a city larger than the greatest
secondary city of Atlantic America
carrying on an extensive commerce, and
aoounding with important manufacture
ing establishments containing within
ITS bosom, mum erous, intelligent and en-
terprising population, and supplying all
that can administer to the accommoda-
ton OF man--if such a prediction had at
that time been nude, it would have been
set down as the vision Of eccentric folly,
or the dream Of a distempered magma
,'lcr.s-But absurd az it might have ap-
pcared at the time, it has been fully rea.
lzed, and as The traveller enters this
place, his attention and admiration are
divided between an elegant and prosper
Gus city, and the fair river on which il is
situate. 1t has been remarked as the
.;Sisorm course Of human affsirs, that
the march of knowledge, like the sun,
travels from East to West; and truly it
would appear'ia this case, tina, the EN-.
belishments OF taste, as well as the &C.
qnlsi,ions of intellect, have taken ST.
milar direction. And yon have indeed
risen into notice, no, like meteor emit
ting evanescent corruscations, or on Au-
rora BoreaIis, dazzling with occasional
splendor; but with the steady illumi-
nation of star of the first order.
This favorable state of things must
have arisen from the felicity of your stu.
s,ion--from the cn'erprising character Of
your populalioD-from an intelligent
view of your relative as we'll as abstract
condition from determination to i'm
prove adyan,ages-io surmount Difficult.