Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1844-12-06
PRESIDENTS MESSAGE.

~ fN JUS " n
our gratitude to the Supreme Ruler of the
Universe for the benefits aud blessings
which our country, under his kind Provi-
dence, has enjoyed during the past year.
Notwithstanding the exciting scenes through
which we have passed, nothing has occurred
to disturb the general peace, or to derange
the harmony Of our political system. The
= great moral spectacle has been exhibited OF
a nation, approximating in number to 90
100000 of people, having performed the
high and important function of e~lecting
their Chief Magistrate for the term Of four
years, without the commission of any acts OF
violence, or the manifestation Of spirit OF
INSTRUMENTATION to the laws. The great and
inestimable right Of suffrage, has been exer-
cised by all who were invested with it, I'M
der the laws of the different States, in a
spirit dictated alone by a desire, in a selec-
ton ofthe agent, to advance the interests of
the country, and to place beyond jeopardy
the institutions under which it is our happi-
ness to live. That the deepest interest has
been manifested by all our countrymen in
the result Of the election, is not less true,
than highly creditable TO them. Vast null
titudes have assembled, from time TO time,
at various places, for the purpose of canvas
sing the merits and pretensions of those who
were presented for their suffrages but no
armed soldiery has been necessary to re-
strain, within proper limits, the popular zeal,
or TO prevent violent outbreaks. A princi-
pie much more controlling was found in the
love of order and obedience to the laws.
which, with mere individual exceptions,
every where possesses the American mind,
and controls with an influence far more
powerful than hosts of armed men. We
cannot dwell upon this picture without
recognizing in it that deep aud devoted at
-tachment on the part of the People, to the
institutions under which we live, which pro-
claims their perpetuity. The great objec-
i, ton which has always prevailed against the
election, by the People, of their Chief Exec
utive officer, has been the apprehension of
tumults and disorders, which might involve
IN ruin the entire Government. A security
against this, is found not only in the fact
before alluded to, but in the additional fact
that, we live under a confederacy embracing
already twenty-six States no one of which
has power to control the election. The
popular vote in each State is taken at the
time appointed by the laws, and such vote is
announced by its Electoral College, without
reference to the decision of the other States.
The right of suffrage, and the mode of con-
Quoting the election, is regulated by the
laws of each State aud the election is dis
tInctly federatlve in all its prominent fea-
lures. Thus it is that, unlike what might
be the results under a consolidated system,
riotous proceedings, should they prevail,
could only affect the elections in single
States, withou. disturbing, to any dangerous
extent, the tranquility of others. The great
experiment OF a political confederacy-each
member of which is supreme-as to all mat
tiers appertaining to its local interests, and
its internal peace and happiness, while by
a voluntary compact with others, it confdes
to the united power of all, the protection of
its citizens, in matters not domestic-has
been SO far crowned with complete success.
The world has witnessed its rapid growth in
wealth and population; and, under the guide
and direction of a experimenting Provi-
dence, the developments of the past may be
regarded but as the s~hadowing forth of the
mighty future. In the bright prospects of
that future, we shall find, as patriots and
philanthropists, the highest inducements TO
cultivate and cherish a love of union, and to
frown down every measure or effort which
ftthJ ~ fhuNO W iChut TX dlC vi TIC ]
People of the States, in sentiment and feel
ing from each other. A rigid and close ad-
herence to the terms of our political com
pact, and, above all, a sacred observance of
the guarantees of the Constitution, will pre-
serve union on a foundation which cannot
be shaken while personal liberty is placed
beyond hazard or jeopardy. The guarantee
OF religious freedom, of the freedom of the
press, of the liberty Of speech, of the trial
by jury, of the habeas corpus, and of.the do
nestle institutions Of each of the States
leaving the private citizen in the full exer-
else of the high and ennobling attributes Of
his nature, and to each State the privilege,
which can only be judiciously exerted by it.
self, Of consulting the means best calculated
to advance its own happiness these are
the great and important guarantees of the
Constitution, which the lovers OF liberty
must cherish, and the advocates of union
must ever cultivate. Preserving these, and
avoiding all interpretations by forced con-
structlon, under the guise of an imagined
expediencY, upon the Constitution, the in
6uence of our political system is destined to
be as actively and as benefcially felt on the
distant shores of the Pacific, as it is now on
those of the Atlantic Ocean. The only for
midable impediments in the way of its sue
cessful expansion thine and space) are so
far in the progress Of modification, by the
Improvements of the age, as to render no
longer speculative the ability of Representa-
tiYes from that remote region to come up to
the Capitol, SO that their constituents shall
participate in all the benefits of Federal
legislation. Thus it is that, in the progress