Cheraw gazette. [volume] (Cheraw, S.C.) 1835-1838, 1836-12-06
On Tuesday, the 29th ult. His Excelen-
cy the Governor transmitted to both BRAN
ches of the Legislature the following
MESS AGE.
Fclloo.eitizens Of the Senate, and Of
The House Of Representatives.

The House Of Representatives.:
About to bid adleu to the cares and res
possibilities Of public life, and meeting You
for the last time, to unite with you in delib-
erations for promoting the welfare Of South
Carolina, am incapable of expressing the
qualification experience, in contemplating
the spectacle of unexampled prosperity,
which now crowns the hopes and blesscs
the labors of all classes of our fellow-cti-
ZenS.
At no former period, have they enioved
such abundant pecuniary means Of fulfilling
their destinies Us community of enlig ght-
ened frecmen, and Of discharging the obi
cations which they owe to the world and TO
their posterity, by promoting the great cause
of human Improvement, and by laying deep
the foundations of liberiy in !, well cduca-
ted population, and well organized system
of social and civil poGty. And while it be-
comes us to be dcvouty thankful to an
overriding Providence. for these ample
means of happiness, we cannot be too deep
" impressed with the conviction, that we
are responsible 10 that Providence, for their
proper use and improvement. Nor can
we, thus highly favored as a people, neglect
our advantages with mpunily. We must
improve the talent entrusted to our care, or
pay the penalty denounced against the un-
profitable servant. We must give a pub
hc.spirted and patriotic direction to the
resources of the Safe, and move forward
in the career of improvement, civil, military,
moral, intellectual and social, or sink down
into that state Of sordid selfshness, in which
even avarice will be finally overcome, by
Incidence and the love of luxurious indul-
gence. IF it be true-as history but too
impressively y teaches us-that communities
are less capable of bearing prosperity than
alversity, it should admonish us of the dam
perous eminence on which we now st;ni,
where one false and downward step may
precipitate US from our envious height into
the ignominious gulf below, which yawns
ready to receive "c.
wish could persuade myself that these
are mere barren specuations, drawn from
the experience of other countries, but lnap-
plcabe to our own. But cannot be blind
to the threatening premontions of prema-
ture nationa! degeneracy which are visible
in oil directions, and not least conspicuous
at the centre of our Federal Empire.
1t belongs appropriately to you, fellow
citizens, as the Legislators Of South Caro-
lima, and the selected guardians of her well
fare, 10 counteract, by all the means in your
power, these fearful and downward tcnden-
cies, and to give such wise and saiutary
direction to the moral, intellectual, and ply
sical energies of the people, as will expand
every selfish feeling into patriotism, and
impress it upon the mind Of every citizen,
that his first and greatest interest is the &C.
neral prosperity of the State, and the secu-
rity of her institutions, her rights, and her
liberties.
To build up the solid fabric of the pros
perity of State, by developing the elements
OF her wealth and power, and organizing
systems of public instruction, calculated to
elevate the standard of popular morals, and
popular intelligence, is the noblest employ
ment that can excite the ambition or task
the faculties Of legislators aud statesmen.--
In comparison with this, the miserable
schemes of petty and selfish ambition, and
scrambling for office through all the filthy
mazes of intrigue and corruption, sink into
contempt and insignifcance. South Caro-
lima has achieved an enviable reputation by
her noble and successful struggle for the
essential interests and constitutional rights
of the Southern States. Her success III
that unequal contest, and the high charac
ter with which she came out oft, were prln
cipally owing TO the apparent and acknow
ledged fact, that her statesmen and her peo
pie were actuated exclusively by a patriotic
spirit of resistance, directed against sys
tenn of unconstitutional oppression, wlthou
any ulterior purpose Of selfish AMBITION
Let US cherish and preserve the reputation
we have thus nobly acquired, as the Ro
mans did their vestal fire. Let no states
man of South Carolina tarnish her glorious
escutcheon, by cnlisting as partisan undel
the banner of any of those political chief
who are grasping at the Presidential scep
tre. The political principles and peculiar
institutions of the State may be sold an(
sacrificed, but most assuredy they can ne
yer be preserved by such degrading par'i
sanship. South Carolina, and all the State
having similar institutions, "must not pn
their trust in Presidents" but lcol TO theI
own power and principles, for the securlt.
of their rights and institutions. 'h"H ar