Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1856-01-04
FRIDAY MORNING, G,JANUARY 1, 1856
THE MEssAGE-FIRSr IMPRESSIONS.

IL lhSl l.uk hEcohSAk''
The President prefaoes the Message by assigning
satisfactory reasons for departing from usage aud
sending it in to the Senate before the organization Of
the House. From a hasty perusal, we conclude that
for lucid ORDER compact, concise and comprehensive
STYLE, and for 6rmness aud teuacity OF purpose ex
pressed with modesty emanating from conscious
recti,ude, this message is excelled by few State pa
pers that have illustrated our annals.
We regret that we find nothing i'll tito increase our
hopes OF poacefal solution of our difficulties with
England. Her conduct both in regard to Central
America, and to recruitment in territory exhibits
II wautou and deliberate disregard of our rights and
opr feel;ugs. We cannot conceive that she has de-
beratelv adopted such course OF conduct with the
design 10 back out from her positions. She knew
that we could not honoroJy submit to her insults and
ssgressions and she must have calculated that our
fears induce us leopard or to forfeit our honor.
70 provoke seems TO have been her only object.
How it to be avoided her business to enquire and
sscertaiu-not ours. She has wilfuy and wantonly
involved the two nations in quarrel-she is sole AL
thor of the mischief and she must discover the means
Of reparation.
On the subjects Of slavery, abolition and States
Rights the Message is able, explicit and satisfactory.
What an admirable, ard rebuko 10 the aboli-
toniss does the President administer. when he says:
although conscious of their inability to heal admit
ted and palpable social evils of their own, and which
are completely within their jurisdiction they engage
in the offensive and hopeless undertaking Of reform
ing the domestic institutions of other States wholly
beyond their control and authority. In the vain
pursuit of ends, by them entirely unattanable, and
which they may not legally attempt to compass they
peril the very existence of the constitution and all
the countless benefits which it has conferred While
the people of the Southern States conne their atten
ton to their own affairs not presumng otcously to
intermedde with the social institutions of the North
ern States too many of the inhabitants OF the latter
are permanently organized in associations to nhct
injury on the former, by wrongful acts, which would
be cause of war as between foreign powers, and
only fail TO be such in our SYSTEM because perperated
under cover of the Union" lie would probably dis
ssr.e with the abotionists to what are the 'admit-
ted and palpable social evils" of their form OF succ
ty He no doubt thinks those evils are its riots, re-
voutions, crimes and famines. They treat palpu'
BILE and admitted evils, marriage, religion law, gov
ernment and separate property. The greatest and
most palpabe evil probably is, that their society be
gets such madmen and traitors as themselves-iron
Wendall Phillips down to the Widow Wakeman We
wish we were sanguine of the Future rs the Pres
dent. But the rapid increase of abolition warns us
that there is danger ahead-snd it is our duty not
lu others into false feeling of security. Here
the beautiful words of the Message to which refer
"Iknow that the Union is stronger thousand times
than all the wild and chimercal schemes Of social
change, which are generated one after another, in
the unstable minds of visionary sophs,s and inter
esed agtators. rely confidently on the patriotism
of the people, ON the dignity and sefrespect of the
the continued gracious favor of Almighty God to
maintain, against all enemies, whether at home or
abroad the sanctty Of the constitution and the in.
tegrity Of the Union"