The Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1837-1867, 1860-12-14
nur PRESIDENTS MESSAGE.

ruo,r citizens Of the Senate
i''' and House Of Representatives
Tbrouebout the year since our last meet
.., ,be country has been eminently prosper
-. IN all its material interests. The general
IN.r.b has been excellent, our harvests have
hssn @ abundant, and plenty smiles throughout
.hs land. Our commerce and manufactures
lave been prosecuted with energy and in
+r..rv. and have Welded fair and ample
r,nrns. In short, no nation in the tide Of
.re has ever presented a spectacle of greater
r,,-sra! prosperity than we have done until
within very recent period.
rrr DOMESTIC oUESTIONS-SLAvERY AND
Vby is it. then. that discomfort now so
extensively prevails, and the union oe the
..,,e.. which is the source of all these bless
;.rs.; IS threatened with destruction The
'o9c-continued and Incorporate interference
q. tie northern people with the question of
,averv in the southern states has at length
,roluced its natural effects. The different
sections of the Union are now arrayed against
each other, and the time has arrived, so much
dreaded by the Father of his Country, when
hostile geographical parties have been form
Ell. | have long toreseen and often fore
warned my countrymen of the now impend
ing danger. This does not proceed solely
rom the claim on the part of Congress or
the territorial legislatures to exclude slavery
from the territories, nor from the efforts of
different states to defeat the execution of the
fugitive slave law. All or any of these evils
might have been endured by the South with
out danger to the Union, las others have
d1ae) in the hope that time and reflection
might apply the remedy. The immediate
per arises not so much from these causes as
rom the fact that the incessant and violent
agitation Of the slavery question throughout
the North for the last quarter of century
has at length produced its malign influence
on the slaves, and inspired them with vague
notions of freedom. Hence a sense of secu-
rity no longer exists around the family altar.
This feeling of peace at home has given place
to apprehension of servie insurrection.
Many matron throughout the South re-
tires at night in dread of what NAV befall
herself and her children before the morning.
Should this apprehension of domestic danger,
whether real or imaginary, extend and inten-
sity itself until it shall pervade the masses
of the southern people, then disunion will
become inevitable. Self-preservation is the
first law of nature, and has been implanted
in the heart Of man by his Creator for the
wsest purposes; and no political union,
however traught with blessings and benefits
in all other respects, can long continue, if the
necessary consequence be to render the
homes and the fresides of nearly half the
parties to it habitually and hopelessly inse-
cure. Sooner or later the bonds of such a
union must be severed. 1t is my conviction
that this fatal period has not yet arrived and
my PRAYER to God is that He would preserve
the constitution throughout all generations.
But let US take warning in time, and re-
move the cause Of danger. 1t cannot be de.
MED that for five and twenty years the agita-
ion at the North against slavery in the South
has been inccssant. In 1885 pictorial hand
bills, and intiammatory appeals were circula
ted extensively throughout the South, of a
character to excite the passions of the slaves
and, in the language of General Jackson, "te
stimulate them to insurrection, and to produce
al the horrors of servile war. This agta
ton has ever since been continued by tht
public press by the proceedings of state ant
county conventions, and by the abolition
sermons and lectures. The time of Congress
has been occupied in violent speeches on thi
never-ending subject; and appeals in pamph
let and other forms. endorsed by distinguish
ed names, have been sent forth from thi
central point and spread broadcast over tn
Union.
How easy would it be for the America
people to settle the slavery questio
forever, and to restore peace and harmony t
this distracted country.
They, and they alone, can do it. All tha
is necessary to accomplish the object, and al
for which the states have ever contended,
to be let alone, and permitted to manag
their domestic institutions in their own way
AS sovereign states they, and they alone, ar
responsible before God and the world for tn
slavery existing among them. For this, tn
people OF the North are not more reSponSi
be have no more right to interfere, thai
with similar in Russia or in Brazil. Upo
their good sense and patriotic forbearance
confess | still greatly rely. Without the;
aid, it is beyond the power Of any president
no matter what may be his political procliv
ties, to restore peace and harmony among tn
states. Wisely limited and restrained as
his power, under our constitution and law
he alone can accomplish but little, for goo
or for evil. on such momcntous question.
And this brinSsme to observe that the elet
ton of any one of our fellow-citizens to tn
office of president does not afford just caus
for dissolving the Union. This is more es
pec.ally true if his election has been effecte
by mere plurality, and not a majority, {
the people, and has resulted from transfer
and temporary causes, which may probabl
never again occur. In order to justify
resort to revolutionary resistance, the feder;
government must be guilty Of" deliberat
palpable, and dangerous exercise" of power
not granted BY the constitution. The la!
presidential election, however, has been hel
IN strict conformity with its express provi:
ions. How, then, can the result justify
revolution to destroy this very constitution
Reason, Justice regard for the constitution
all require that We shall wait for some owe
and dangerous act on the part of the pres
dent elect before resorting to such remcd
1t is said, however, that the antecedents
the president elect have been sufficient
justify the fears of the South that he wi
attempt to Invade their constitutional right
But are such apprehensions of continsel
danger in the future sufficient to justify II
Immediate destruction of the noblest syste
Of government ever devised by mortals
From the very nature of his office, and
high responsibilities, he must necessarily
Conservative. The stern duty of administe
ing the vast and complicated concerns of III
government affords in its If guarantee tn