Martinsburg gazette. [volume] (Martinsburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1833-1855, 1837-03-15

fuil enjoyment oil liberty and peace
and honored and respected by ever
nation in the world.
Ii my humble efforts have, in an,
degree, contributed to preserve to yol
these blessings, | have been more thar
rewarded by the honoys you have hea
ped upon me ; and, above all, by thl
generous confidence with which you
have supported me in every peril, ant
with which you have continued to an
innate and cheer my path to the closing
hour of my political life. The time hal
now come, when advanced age and q
broken frame admonish me to retire
from public concerns but the recollec.
ton OF the many favors you have bes-
lowed upon me IS engraven upon nv
heart, and have felt that | could not
part from your service without making
this public acknowledgment of the graz
titude | owe you. And if use the oc-
casion to offer to you the counsels oil
age and experience, you will, | trust,
receive them with the same indulgent
kindness which you have so often ex-
tended to me ; and will at least, see in
them an earnest desire to perpetuate,
in this favored land, the blessings oil
liberty and equal laws.
We have now lived almost fifty
years under the constitution framed by
the sages 81 patriots OF the Revolution.
The conflicts in which the nations Of
Europe were engaged during a great
part of this period the spirit in which
they waged war against each other /;
and our intimate commercial connex-
ions with every part of the civilized
world, rendered it n time of much diff.
fculty for the Government Of the Uni
ted States. Ws have had our seasons
of peace and of war, with all the evils
which precede or follow a state ofhos-
tility with powerful nations. We en-
countered these trials with our consti-
tuition yet in its infancy, and under the
disadvantages which a new and untri-
ed Government must always feel when
it is called upon to put forth tsstrength
without the lights of experience 10
guide it, or the weight oil precedents to
justify its measures But we have pas.
sed triumphantly through all these dif.
ficulties. Our constitution is no long.
er a doubtful experiment and, at the
end Of nearly half a century, we find
that it has preserved unimpaired the
liberties ofthe people, secured the rights
~ofproperty, u that our country has inn
proved and is flourishing beyond any
former ex ample in the history Of ma
tons.
In u domestic concerns there is
every thing to encourage us and, il
you are trde to yourselves, nothing can
impede your march to the highest point
of national prosperity. The States
which had SO long been retarded in
their Improvement, by the Indian tribes
residing in the midst of them, are at
length relieved from the evil !; and this
unhappy race-the original dwellers
in u land-are nov placed in u stu
alton where we may well hope that
they will share the blessings Of civil
cation, and be saved from that degra-
dation and destruction to which they
we're rapidly Fastening while they re.
manned IN the States and while the
safety and comfort of our own citizens
have been greatly promoted by their
removal, the philanthropis. will rejoice
that the remnant Of that i'll. a cd race
has been at length placed beyond the
reach ofinjury or oppression, and that
the paternal care Of the General Gov
eminent will hereafter watch over
them and protect them.
five turn to u relations with for
eign powers, we find our condition c.
qally gratifying. Actuated by the sin
cere desire to do justice to every ma
ton, and to preserve the blessings OF
peace, our intercourse with them has
been conducted on the part of this Gov
eminent in the spirit offrankness; and,
| take pleasure in saying, that it has
generally been met in a corresponding
temper. Difficulties of old standing
have been surmounted by friendly dis.
cusslon, and the mutual desire to be
lust; and the claims of our citizens,
which had been leng withheld, have at
length been acknowledged and adjus-
ted, and satisfactory arrangements
made for their final payment; and with
a limited, and, | trust, a temporary ex-
ception, our relations with every for
eign power are now Of the most friend
ly character-our commerce contlnu-
ally expanding, and our flag respected
in every quarter of the world.
These cheering and grateful pros
poets, and these multiplied f%avors, we
owe, under Providence, to the adoption
ofthe Federal constitution. 1t is no
longer a question whether this great
country can remain happily united,
II Q1pr,et. tn1ar rt.r prncapt fornn ~