Herald of the times. [volume] (Newport, R.I.) 1830-1846, 1831-12-08


Agriculture, the first and most impor-
ant occupation of man, has compensated
he labOrs of the husbandman with plen-
iful crops Of all the varied products of
our extensive country. Manufactures
havk been established, in which the funds
Of tie capitalist fipd profitable invest
meat, and which give employment and
subsistence to numerous and increasing
body of industrious and dextcrous me-
chahics. The faborer is rewarded by
high wages, in the construction Of works
of ilternal improvement; which are eX-
tending with unprecedc rapidty.-
Science is steadily penetrating the recess
ses d nature and disclosing her secrets,
while the ingenuity Of free minds is sub
jectifg the elements to the power OF man,
and making each new conquest auxiliary
to his comfort. BY our mails, whose
speed is regularly increased, and whose
routes are every year extended, the com
muniration of public intelligence and
private business is rendered frequent and
saie-the intercourse between distant
cities which it formerly required weeks
to accomplish, is now effected in few
days; and by the construction Of rail
roads, and the application OF steam pow
er, we have n reasonable prospect that
the extreme parts of our country will te
so much approximated, and those most
isolated by the obstacles of nature, rem
drred 80 accessible as to remove an ap-
prehension sometimes entertained, that
The great extent of the Union would en-
danger its permanent existence.
IL, from the satisfactory view Of our
agriculture, manufactures, aud internal
improvements, we turn to the state Of our
navigation and trade with foreign nations
and between the States, we shall scarce
ly find less cause for graduation. A be-
ncfcent Providence has provided, for
their exercise and encourag cment, an ex-
tcnsive coast, indented by caPacious
bays, noble rivers, inland seas, with a
country productive of every material for
ship building and every commodity for
gainiul commerce, and filled with pop
ulation, active, intelligent, wcll-inform-
ed, and fearless Of danger. These ad-
yantascs are not neglected; and an i'm
pulse has lately been given to CONNER
cal enterprise, which fills our shlp-yards
with new constructions, encourages all
the arts and branches of industry con-
nccted with them, crowds the wharves Of
our cities with vessels, and covers the
most distant seas with our canvass.
Let us be grateful for these blessings
to the bcncfccnt Being who has confer.
red them, and who suffers US to indulge n
reasonable hope Of their continuance s.
cxtension,w n,whilc we neglect not the means
by which they may be preserved. If
we may dare to Judge of Ills future de-
signs, by the manner in which his past
tavors have been bestowed, he has made
our national prosperity to depend on the
preservation Of our liberties; our national
force on our federal union, and our indi-
vidual happiness on the maintenance of
our State rights and wise institutions If
we are prosperous at home, and respect
ed abroad, it is because we are free, uni
ted, industrious, s, obedient to the laws.
While we continue so, we shall, by the
blessing Of heaven, 90 on in the happy
career we have begun, and which has
brought us, in the short period Of our po-
ltIcal existence, from a population Of
three to thirteen millions; from thirteen
separate colonies, TO twenty four United
States; from Weakness to strength; from
a rank scarcely marked in the scale of
nations to high place in their respect
This last advantage is one that has re-
suited, in great degree, from the prin-
ciples which have guided our intercourse
with foreign Powers, since we have as
snmed an equal station among them; and
hence, the annual account which the Ex-
ecutive renders to the country, of the
manner in which that branch of his du-
lies has been flu filed, proves instructive
and saIutary.
The pacific and wise policy ofour Gov
ernment kept us in n state of neutrality
during the wars that have, at different Pc
-iOds since our political existence, been
on by other powers but this pol.
cy, while it gave activity and extent to
BUR commerce, exposed it in the same
TO injuries from the belligerent
nations. Hence have arisen claims of
indemnity for those injuries. England,
France, Spain, Holland, Sweden, Den
mark, Naples, and lately Portugal, had
all, in greater or less degree, infringed
our neutral rights. Demands for repa-
ration were made upon all. They have
had in all, and continue to have in some
cases, leading influence on the nature
oi our relations with the powers on whom
hey were made.
Ofth claims upon England it is un-
necessary to speak, further than to say,
hat the state of things to which their