The daily Madisonian. [volume] (Washington City [i.e. Washington, D.C.]) 1841-1845, 1843-08-15


A public dinner being rendered Gov. Gilme'
by the clizens Of Amherst county. va the
Governorin accepting the Invitation replied as
follows;
CnAsLorrrsuILk, July 81, lsa3
GEsrLEass. have the honor to acknowledge
your comm ,nication of the 18th inst invnng me- o
behalf of ny friends in Amherst, to pubiic uinne'
at your Court House on the 18th August anu a'
sure you of the pleasure 1t will afford me TO uhie
with you, and with those whose organ you are, ID
testifying oar devotion To republican PihcPi''.
While am not conscious of having rendered any
| public service which has not been more uian eoui-
pcnsated by the continued confidence OF my ieno"
citizens, cannot be nseDsble 10 Tins aduitionai
proof of their regard unwilling, at their bidding
| 10 mngle cur common sympatbies III behaii Vi our
countrys btst interests around the festive board OF
| on any other occasion which Their generous hosPi
tolily shall select Honors like Offices, where ID
The duty of all 10 love and to serve their country DC
| long TO no man. They part Of The preroga.'e
| Of the people, who, in comforting or withholding
| them, will have regard TO the public interests
than private feelings. In accepting your sihu M
Walton, them gentlemen, II is no afectatoh Oh ou
| " which induces me to appropriate TO myself only
| very small portion of compliment which IS some
| tines msconslruod having no higher import thah
tie meats and dishes of feast, or the aPpct'e oil
giest We shall meet, gentlemen, trust, not merely
i eat to drink, or to pass idle compliments 70
zeal for the free and glorious institutions OF our
lcountry-a zeal for principles too dear TO all 10 DC
sacrificed for personal predictions or antipaihies.
I Allow me to congratulate you too, gentlemen, tba'
| we shall meet under circumstances more proPhous
for calm reflection and patriotic rejoicing than we
have done since the relation oil constituent ana repre-
| sentative bound us together. The clouds oil error
and pre- ludce which have obscured the Judgments OF
the best aad wisest in reference to the true interests
of the country, and which have impaired so mucf
bitterness to our party conflicts, have been already
partially disr eed by the light Of experience; and
the public mind is beginning to investigate, and VII
soon decide the great political questions which have
been sometimes considered, lament to say, more n
reference to the personal advancement Of few thar
| the permanent political interest OF the many. nc
people have discovered that they have little to gam
or 10 lose where political contests have no h'ghei
objects than the success of man or the defeat oil
another that public and political parties should
be known not by the names they assume, but by the
measures they advo ate that promises oil rellei are
| more easily made before an election, than redeemed
afterwards; that Government may do great deal &c
encourage extravaganza, dleness, embarrassment
and distress from which the people must at last ex
trcate themselves by honest, untrammelied indusr,
and economy; that national banks and bounties may
promote morbid system OF false credit, when
though the evil day may be long postponed, vii
eventually sacrifice the labor and property OF Its VIC
tins without and without remedy that with
out the agency of these dangerous stimuaDts and IL
despite of their still pernicious influences, times are
getting better, prices BETTER exchanges and lneres
lower than they have ever been be fore, and conn
dence is gradually but surely revving; that true re
form must begin at the foundation and remove tbost
causes which render Governments corrupt and indi
viduals sordd, which regard public debt and extra
VACANT appropriations pretexts for high and un
equal taxes, and encourage the citizen to exchang'
the slow but acquisitions of industry Tor TIT
sudden gain of speculation and fraud; that there i
nothing in the examples or the principles of Euro
pean Governments worthy of American imitation
especially in those examples or those principles
which, under the spirit of enlightened commerce. arr
relaxing their iron grasp even in England; that tn
harmony and prosperity of our Union depend essen
TALLY on those very causes which, on superficial oh
servation seem TO threaten its dissolution, but which
when properly understood, lead to mutual depend
ence, respect confidence, and strength
am with sincere esteem, your fellow citizen
THOMAS w. GILMER.
To Messrs. Geo. W. Davis, IL. w. Quarles, AM
Pauus Powell, Committee.