New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1853-09-16
THEDESTINY or AMERICA
4 SPEECH By WILLIAM II. SEWARD,
n~tf,rsrp AZ -EE DEDICATION or CAPITAL vSvss-
SHY COLUMBUS Onto, SEFr. "a is5l

. cour.e es, end greet ron wei
This scene : new 10 M. 4 stranger m ONO, snd h
must H. Ia isgree surprising even Yourselves Ga
se banks OF the Scoto where the elk, the onnss and
the Kissing erpent haunted not long see now mile
vcrtca hy mute ucch anicsl aborers and warehouses
rich IN tie merchandise "a uany cimes Stcets o. va
pr iron rsds and electrical on pathways
which divide The air attest the concentration OF many
1yCl forms ofinaustry, while academic groves spseeus
co,1rts and majestic domes the reverence always
EN- Uenty due 70 the chosen seats Of philosophy religion
aud government
WI Vt a change moreover. has within the same short
period come over the whole country that We love 80
Justly I'd well High of latitude aud longitude
have shr ak into their chords and American language
laws re. non and authority confined the Allan
tic coast Now prevail from the Northern lakes 10 the
Southern ~ and from the stormy Eastern sea TO the
tranquil WeAiern ocean
Neverthclesss it is not in mans nature to be content
with pr sent ,tsnmcnt or enoymeut You say 20 me
,bereore with excusable impotence Tell rs not what
our country is but what she shall be Shall her great
ness increase Is she immortal =
Twill answer YOU according to my poor opinion. Bat
Ipray vou rs mos. worthy friends 10 dshne the great
ness and Immortality YOU so yehemeDtly desire.
1.-THE Future which seek consists in this that these
thiryoue States shall continue 10 exist tor PERIOD -
long ashuuan allowed 10 antclpate atercom-
inc events that they shsl be all the while free that they
shall remain distinct and independent in domestic econo
NV aud nevertheless be Only one in commerce and Tor
egn affairs that there shall arise from among them and
within their common domain even more than tniriyone
T
that the borders of the Federal Republic peculiarly
constituted shall re extended tina, shall greet the su"
when he touches the rrope and when he sends hs gan
ing toward The Polar circle and shall include even
distant Islands in either that our population now
counted By millions hall ultimately bc reckoned by
hundreds c millions. that wealth shall increase athoa
sand fold and lecisl connections shall be mupi
cd and political influence DE enhanced in proportions
with this wide development and that mankind shall come
TO recognize in Us successor othe few great states Which
have alternately borne commanding sway in the wort-n
Ills and only this i desired then am free say that IT,
rrl.l N lie
shall be preserved nothing seems 10 me moe certain than
the attainment OF this Future surprisingly eonprehen
Indeed, such Future seems be only enaiural ooass
Quence OF what has already been secured Why then shan
il be attained l. not the field free for the expansion
indicated NJ il Cor that which has already occuued
Are the national resources mmeasurably augmented
snd continually increasing With teesrephs and railroads
crossing the Detroit the Niagara the -, Johns and the St
Lawrence rivers with steamers the Lakes OF Nicaragua
and railroad the Istmns Of Panams and with
goiatons IN progress Tor passages over iehnaneps ana
Daron with feet in lludson Bay and another at Behr
ing straits and with yet another exploring the La Pais.
and with an armada at the gates OF Japan "in Msxco
ready divide the question Of anncxaon and with the
Sandwich Islands suing to for our sovereignty il quite
clear that the motives 20 enlargement are even more
active than they heretofore and that the public
energies instead Of being rolayed gaining new vigor
l. he Nation 10 become suddenly weary and so to wsver
and fall or from the pursuit OF It's high purposes When
did any vigorous nation ever become weary even oil hazard
Gus and exhaustng martial oonquests conquest on
Productive Of new wealth and strength l. paralysis to
ian upon the national brain On the contrary, what poht
ifalt
bi,ed greater elasticity and capacity for endurance
l. the union Of the States % fal Does It's strength IN
deed grow les with the multi pcaion Of "a bond. or
does s value diminish with the Increase OF the social ana
political interests which defends and protects Far 9th
ewise For all practical purposes bearing on ihe great
graph al OF which newer than tho Union and the ne
troIolau Press which u 10 less wonderful In III working
than they. have already oberated State boundaries ana
produced Ihysical and moral cenralism more complete
and perfect than monarchca ambition ever has iorget or
can forge Do you reply nevertheless that the onion rss
on the will oihe several States and that M matter wh
prudence reason may diotae popular passion mss DO
come excited and rend il asnnderi Ihon lrQoln When
did the American People ever give way 10 slc1 I'm
They practically impassye fon remind me ina, I,c
ton ha- existed AMI that only receny was BOA se ro
lent Ianswor that was emboldenedby popular umdy'
aud that even then i succumbcd Loyay ,p VIC ~
ion mhny States only but in al oithe o,aes
he strongest of all Pubic passions. u stronger a2sD.
not than the love of Justice even the love OF equay.
which have acquired strength here never known among
mankind before nation may well despse threats o. as
don that bas never known but traitor and this will DO
learned fully by those who shall hereafter attempt % arrest
any great national movement by invoking from Their grave
the obsolete lerTors Of )isunion mn
But Won apprehend foreign resistance wei. where Is
our enemy Whence shall he come VIII no arse
ON this continent Canada has great resources ana begins
10 give signs of national spirit But Canada not IN
| depe ndent OF Great Britain And she viii be quite TOD
weak 10 be formidable when her emancipation sha
have taken place Moreover her principle, Interests ana
sympaths assimae just in the degree ina shs
Serees toward eparaton from the parent country
dn although province Of Great Britain already han
annexed 20 the n.,ed States She viii ultimately Decons
amenbcr OF this cOnftderacy II will consent an any "
We viii uo allow her 10 come nearer least she
be an adversary. VIII MEXICO Nicaragua, or tuahe
mna or Ecuador or Peru, all At once become m,gcaiy
curcd Of the drea-es inherited from Aboriginal and span
III oreufa0e and call up annie srom under the earth and
nave- from the depths Of the and thus become the
Rome dat shall resist and overthrow this OserspreahnS
Carthage of Our. Or to receive our DEAN stroko
AZ the hand u Brazil douby cursed NJ she above all other
American by her adoption ihe two most absurd
stituions remaining among men European monarchy
! and American slavery g..
seas Where then shall we look forhim onth Antilles
ar ON the Bemudas or the Bshamas which 0fihe con
eictir elements existing together yet unnised there
ultimately 10 prevail VIII u bc Cauc asian or AincAn'
Can those races not only combine but become all At once
| aggressive and powerful
Shall we look fox an adversary IN Europe Napoleon
said at st Helena, America !. fortunate colnip oho
/ grows by the fOles Of our European Nations o,nco
wheuhaye those nations grown wise Hthey nave AZ iast
become wise how IL that America has neyertheless no
ceased to grow But what European state WI opP,.e Us
VIII Great Britain II she iears 10 rapple vim hHs.s'
advancing toward COnantnople on the way 70 inoi.'
though not only prestige bat even her empire threat
enad will she be bold enough to out OF her way 70
sci an encounter with ms Who viii feed ana pay ner
africans while sho shall DO engaged IN destroying ner
American debtors and the American consumsr. OF hsr
fabric Great Britain has enough TO do IN repairing ~
Ireland tie population that iand has yielded 70 U.s. III
sutjecting Africa in extending her mercantile domn
in Ass and in pereruany adjusting me crazy oAance
Of power in Europe essential % her saety we have
fraterral relations with Switzerland the only kepoDhc yet
lingering on that continent Which Of the despouc pow
er exiting there IN perpetual terror Of the contagion 81
American principles VIII asoi NJ, and thus Voi1hAny
hasten on that universal u opinion which u sure "
come a. some future time and which whenever sAan
have come whether be or later can ed oy IN
The .ubyerson Of Monarchy and the esablhmen oil ne
pubncanism ifs ruins throughout the worid