The Evansville daily journal. [volume] (Evansville, Ia. [i.e. Ind.]) 1848-1862, 1859-12-30
Presidents Message.

upon US such varied and numerous blessings
throughout the past year. The general
health of the country has been excellent ;
our harvests have been unusully plentiful,
and prosperity smiles throughout the land.
Indeed, Notwithstanding our dement's, we
have much treason to believe from the past
events i'll our history, that we lave enjoyed
the special protection of Divine Providence
since our origin as a nation. We have been
exposed to many threatening and alarming
difficulties in our progress; but ON each sue
cessive occasion the impending cloud has
been dissppated at the moment it appeared
ready to burst upon our head, and the dam
ger to our institutions has passed away May
we ever be under the Divine guidance and
protection
Whilst it is the duty of the President
from time to time to give to Congress in
formation of the state of the Union" shall
not refer in detail to the recent sad and
bloody occurrences at Harpers Ferry Still,
il is proper to observe that these events,
however bad and cruel in themselves, de-
rive their chief Importance from the appre-
hensiOn that they are but symptoms of an
incurable disease in the public mind, which
may break out in stiIl more dangerous out
RACES and terminate at last in an open war
by the North to abolish slavery in the
South. Whilst, for myself | entertain no
such apprehension, they ought to afford
solemn warning to us all to beware of the
approach of danger. Our Union is q stake
of such inestimable value as to demand our
constant and watchful vigilance for its pres
ervation. In this view, let me implore my
cOuntrymen, North and South, to cultivate
the ancient feelings of mutual forbearance
and good will towards each other and strive
To alay the demon spirit of sectional hatred
and strife now alive in the land. This ad-
vice proceeds from the heart of an old pub
lie functionary, whose service commenced
in the last generation, among the wise and
conservative statesmen of that day, now
nearly all passed away, and whose first and
dearest earthly wish is to leave his country
tranquil, prosperous united, and powerful.
We ought to reflect that in this age, and
especially in this country, there is an inces-
SAINT tlux and refiuX of public opinion
Questions which in their day assumed n
most threa e1ing aspect, have now nearly
gone from the memory of men They are
g volcanoes burnt out, and on the lava and
ashes and squalid scoriH of old eruptions
grow the peaceful olive, the cheering vine,
and the sustaining CORN" Such, in my oDin-
ion, will prove to be the fate of the present
sectional excitement, should those who
wisely seek to apply the remedy, continue
always to cOn6ne their efforts within the
pale of the Constitution. IT this course be
pursued, the existing agitation on the sub
ject of domestic slavery, like everything
human, will have its day, and give place to
other and less threatning controversies
Public opinion i'll this country is all power
ful, and when it reaches II dangerous ex-
cess upon any question, the good sense of
the people will furnish a corrective, and
bring it back within safe limits. Still, to
hasten this suspicious result, ut the present
crisis, ought to remember that every
rational creature must be presumed to in
tend the natural consequences of his own
teachings.
Those who announce abstract doctrines
subversive of the Constitution and the
Union must not be surprised should their
heated partIsans advance one step further,
and attempt by violence to carry these doc
trines into practical effect. In this view of
the subject it ought never to be forgotten
that, however great may have been the po-
litical advantage resulting from the Union
to every portion of our common country,
these would all prove to be nothing
should the time ever arrive when they cam
not be enjoyed without serious danger to
the safety of the people OF fifteen members
of the contederacy. If the peace Of the do
nestle hreside throughout these States
should ever be be nvaded-if the mothers
of families within this extensive region
should not be able to retire to rest at night
without suffering dreadful approximations of
what may be their own fate and that of
theiI children before the morning-it would
be vain To recount to such people the po-
litical benefits which result to them from
the Union.
Self preservation is the first inst n t of ma
ture, and therefore any state of society in
which the sword is all the time suspended
tI,s,b Is Of lao 10 loo
become intolerabIe But | indulge i'll no
such gloomy forebodings. On the contrary,
| believe that the events AT IIarpers Ferry,
by causing the people to pause and reflect
upon the possible peril to their cherished
institutions, win be the means, under Prov
idence, of alaying the existing excitement
and preventing future outbreaks of SINH
lar character. They will resolve that the
Constitution and the Union shall not lie en-
dangered by rash counsels, knowing that if
the silver cord be Ioosened or the golden
bowl be broken 8 at the fountain"
human power could never re-unite the scat
tered and hostile fragments.
/ cordially congratulate you upon the
final settlement by the Supreme Court of the
United States of the question of slavery in
the Territories, which had presented an as
pect so truly formidable at the commence
ment of my administration. The right has
been established Of every citizen to take his
property of any kind, including slaves, into
the common Territories belonging equally
to all the States of the Confederacy, and to
have it protected there under the Federal
Constitution. Neither Congress nor a Ter
ritorial Legislature, nor any human power,
has any authority to annul impair this
vested right. The supreme judicial tribu-
nal of the country, which is Il coordinate
branch Of the Government, las sanctioned
and affirmed these principles OF constitution
al law, SO manfestly just in themselves,
and So well calculated TO promote peace and
harmony among,,the States.
1t is a striking proof of the sense of Justice
which is inherent in our people, that the
property in slaves has never been disturbed
to my knowledge in amp of the Territories.
Even throughout the late troubles in Kansas
there has not been any attempt, as | am
credibIy ininrmel 10 Interfere in u singIe