The Washington union. [volume] (City of Washington [D.C.]) 1857-1859, 1858-08-03
SPEECH OF HON. JEFFERSON DApIS IN
PORTLAND, MAINE.


PORTLAND, MAINE.
The Hon. Jefferson Davis having been serenaded by
the citizens of Portland Maine, acknowledged the com.
piment in the following terms
FyLLow-coUAiRtI Accept my sincere thanks for
this manifestation Of your kindness Venity docs not
lead far to misoonceve your purpose to appro-
pirate the demonstration to myself; but it is not less
gratifying to to be made the medium through which
Maine tenders expression OF regard to her sister Mis-
sissipp 1t is, with feelings Of profound graft
caon that witness this Indication Of that national
sentiment and fraternity which made u.s. and which alone
can keep one people AT period but AS yesterday
when compared with the life ofnatons these States
separate and in some respects opposing colonies their
only relation TO each other that Of allie
glance to the government Of Great Britain So separate
Indeed almost hostile, was their attitude, that when
General Stark Of Bennington memory captured by
clva3es the head waters of the Kennebec he sub
sequenty taken by them to Albany where they went to
sell urs and again led away captive, without inter-
ference the part of the inhabnt of that neighbor
ing colony to demand obtain his releese United
are, citizen of the United States act
Of hostility country imprisoned or slain any
quarter of the world whether land sea- the people
of each and every State of the Unon with heart and
with one voice, would demand redress ; and wo be to
him against whom brothers blood cried to from the
ground Such is the fruit of the wisdom and the JUS
tice with which fathers bound contendiDg colonies
into confederation and blended different habits and rival
interests into harmonious whole, that, shoulder
and step with step trod its horny paths until they
reached the height of national independence and founded
the constitutional representative liberty which is
brthright When the mother country entered upon her
of OPPRESSION in disregard of chartered and cost
tutiona rights fOrefathers did not stop to
the exact weight of the burden to ask whether the
pressure bore most upon this colony upon that. but
in it the inacon of great principle the denial of
common right in defence of which they made common
causeM Massachusetts, Virginia and South Carolina yieng
with each other as to who should be foremost in the
struggle where the penalty of failure would be dshon
orabe grave Tempered by the trials and sacrifices of
the revolution dgnfed by its noble purposes elevated
by its brilliant rumphs endeared to each other by its
glorious memories, they abandoned the confedeacy not
to fly apart when the outward pressure of hostile fleets
and armies removed but to draw closer their
brace in the formation OF perfect union lIy such
men, thus trained and ennobed, our constitution
formed. 1t stands monument of principle, of forecast
and above ALL ofthat beraity which made each willing
to sacrifice local interest individual prejudice tempo
rary good to the general welfare and the perpetuty
the republican Institutions which they had passed
through fire and blood to The grants were
broad were necessary for the functions of the
general agent, and the mutual concessions were
twice blest--bessing both him who gave and him
who received. Whatever necessary for domestic
government requisite in the social organization OF each
community, retained by the State and the people
thereof and these 1t made the duty of all to defend
and maintain Such in very general terms, is the rich
political legacy our fathers bequcathed to Shall
preserve and transmit it to postcritya Yes yes, the
nelft RESPONDS, answers, the TASK Is
easily performed 1t but requires that each should at
tend to that which most him, and on which
alone he has gtful power to decide and to act that
each should adhere to the terms Of written compact
and that all should cooperate for that which interest
duty and honor demand For the general affairs of
country, both foreign and domestic, have national
Executive and national legislature. Representatives
and senators chosen by districts and by States but
their acts affect the whole country and their obligations
are to the whole people. He who, holding either seat
would confne his investigations to the interests of
his immediate constituents would be derect to his plain
duty and he who would legslae in hostility to any
ton would be morally unfit for the station, and surely
unsafe depostary If not treacherous guardian of the
inheritance with which blessed No one more
than myself recognises the binding force of the ale
glance which the citizen to the State Of his citizen
ship but that State being party to our compact a
member of Union alty to the federal constitution
is not in opposition to- but flows from the allegiance due
to Of the United States Washington not less
yirginian when he commanded Mt Boston nor did
Gates Greene weaken the bonds which bound them to
their several States by their campaigns in the South In
proportion citizen loves his State will he strive
to honor by preserving her and her fame free from
the tarnsh of having failed to observe her obligations
and to fulfil her duties to her sister States Each page
OF our history is illustrated by the and the deeds
of those who have well understood and discharged the
obligation. Have dcgenerated that
longer emulate their virtues! Have the purposes for
which Union was formed lost their valuef Has
patriotism ceased to be virtue, and is sectional
ism no longer to be counted crime Shall the North
not rcoce that the progress OF agriculture In the South
has given to her great staple the controlling influence Of
the commerce of the world and put manufacturing
tions under bond to keep the peace with the United
States Shall the South not exult in the fact that the
industry and perseverng intelligence of the North has
placed her mechanical skill in the front rank of the CIV
ilized worldthat mother country, whose naughty
minister some eighty odd years ago declared that not
hob-nal should be made in the colonies which are
the United States was brought four years ago to
recognize or eminencc by sending commission to
examine our workshops and machinery to perfect
their manufacture of the requisite their de-
fence DO not whole people, interior and scaboard
North, South, East and West alike feel proud of the
hardihood the enterprise the SKILL and the courage of
the Yankee sailor, who has borne flag far as the
bears its foam and caused the name and the char
acter of the United States to be known and respected
wherever there is wealth enough to commerce. and
intelligence enough to honor merita SO long
preserve and appreciate the achievements of Jefferson
and Adams, of Franklin and Madison, of Hamilton, of
Hancock and OF Rntedge men who abored for the
whole country and lived for mankind cannot sink to
the petty strife which would sap the foundations and de-
stroy the political fabric fathers erected and bequeath
ed an inheritance to poserity forever Since the
formation of the constitution, vast extension of terrific
ry, and the varied relations arising thorefrom, have
presented problems which could not have been forcseen
1t is just for admiration wonder, that the
provisions of the fundamental law should have been
found 80 fully adequate to all the wants of government
new in its organization, and in many of the princ
pies which it was founded. Whatever fears may have
once existed as to the consequence of territorial expan
sion must give way before the evidence which the past
affords The general government strictly confined to its
delegated functions and the States left in the undsturb
ed exercise OF a else have theory and practice