The weekly Portage sentinel. [volume] (Ravenna, Ohio) 1854-1861, 1860-12-07
Presidents Message.
Fsllow Citizens of he Senate a,
and Hoase of REPRESENTATIVES.

Gus in all its material interests. The gen.
eral health has been excellent, our harvests
have been abundant, and plenty smiles
throughout the land. Our commerce and
manufactures have been prosecuted with
energy and industry, and have yielded fair
and ample returns. In short, no nation in
the tide Of time has ever presented specta-
Gle Of greeter msterisl prosperity than we
have done until within avery recent period
Why is it, then,sthat discsutent now se
extensively prevails, and the Union Of States,
which is the source OF all these blessings, i.
.h-eAtened with sNestruction s. The long
continued saa 3ntalS ata infaKlefauees Of
the Northern people with the question Of
slavery in the Southern States has at length
produced 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 Coun-
try, when hostile geographical parties have
been formed I have long foreseen and oft
en- forewarned my countrymen of the now
impending danger. This does not proceed
solely from the claim on the part OF Con-
gress or the Territorial legislature to exclude
slavery from the Territories, nor from The
efforts of the different States to defeat tho
execution OF the fugitive slave law. All or
any of these evils might have been endured
by the South without danger to the Union,
as others have been,) in the hope that time
and reflection might apply the remedy
The immediate peril arises not so much from
these causes as from the fact thnt the inces
SAINT and violent agitation of the slsvegy
~ khrou yb nj ho Morih Io. h,, l,.,,
quarter Of century, has at length produced
it muign influence on the slaves, aud in.
spired them with vague notions Of freedom.
Hence sense OF security ne longer ex.
lists around the temly altar. This ceiling
Of peace at hUme has given place to appre-
heDsions of serviIe insurrectiun. NJ ny a
mafron Throughout the South retires at nj !ht
in dread of what may befSil her.eIf and
children before morning. Should this Hp-
pre6nrs.0n OF Domestic danger, whether rea |
or Imaginary, extend and intensity tsclj un-
ti il shall pervste the m-s-es OF the South
ern people, then d'sobion will become in
epit4ble. preservation is the dst sw
OF nature, and has been implanted ia the
heart OF msR by his Creator tor the wisest
psrp,se end no political Union, however
r usht with blessings and benefits in all
other respects, can long continue, il thu ne
ctsEafy cohsrqnPnces be 10 render the
homss end i,esides VI nearly half the par
ties to il habnuaIIy and hopee,sly insecure.
Sooner Or later the bonds o. such Union
must he severed 1t is my conviction that
'hjs tstel period has not yet arrived and my
prayer to God is that He would preserve the
Gems ,jsulisrtaadt,hej JnieR ihFasghuas alf
geners'i3Es
But LEI us t. lie wa, III q ia time, and remove
the cGuse o daEger. 1t comet be denied
that, io' five aod twenty years, the agitation
Tt the North sgnast slavery in the South
has been jNGessaHt. III 1885 pictorial hSnd
bills and intl mmatory appeals Here citeuIa-
ted extensively thrGus shont the Gouh, Of
chEracter T. excite the gassone OF the slaves;
aud, in the language OF Gca. JarksoH, so
stimulate them to Insu:reCiion and 10 pro.
GuCe all tie horr-rs o a servilG war" T0ls
agitation hos ever since been confined by
the public press, By the proceediDgs OF State
and county conventions, AID by abolition
sermons aud lectures. The tine OF Com
gresa has been occupied ia violent spec ehes
On the never ending su5i'c'; a,d appeals in
and other furms, endorsed by DIS.
n nes, have baen sent forth lrota
this central poja,, aid spread broadcast over
the Union. ..
How easy would it be 70: the American
people to settle the slavery question forever
and 10 restore peace land harmony to this
distracted country! @
They, ard they alone, can do it. Al that
ia fa Oh oAiacf ND
all for which the slave States have ever con-
tended, is to be let alone, and permitted to
manage their domestic institutions in their
own way. AS sovereign States, they, and
they alone, are responsible before God and
the world for slavery existing among them.
For this, the people OF the North are not
more responsible, and have no more right to
interfere, than with similar institutions in
Russia or in Brezil. Upon their good sense
and patriotic orbesrance confess | greatly
rely. Without their aid, it is beyond the
power OF any President, no matter what msy
be his own political procivi'es, to restore
peace and harmony among the Ststes.-
Wisely limited and restrained as is his pow
er, under our constitution and laws, he alone
can accomplish but little, Tor good or for
evil, on such momentou8 question.
And this brings me TO observe th0t the
election OF any one OF our fellow citizens to
the Office OF President does not of itself al |
terd just cause :or dissolving the Union
This is more especially true il bis election
was effected by mere plurality and not .
of the people. and has resulted
from transient and temporary causes, which
may probably never again occur. In order
10 justify resort to revolutionary resistance,
The federal government must be guilty OF
deliberate, palpable, and dangerous exercise
Of powers not grcnted by the constitution.
The late Presidential election, however, has |
been held in strict con ormity with its ex-
press provisions. How, then, can the result
Justify revolution to destroy this very con.
stitulion Reason, justice, a regard Tor the
all require that we shall wait
for some overt and dangerous act on the
part of the President before resorting TO
such a remedy. -...E
1t lie said, however, that the antecedents
,t the President elect have been sufficient
10 Justify the .ears oil the South that he will
attempt to invade their coHst ,utionairghts. |
But are such apprehensions Of contingent,
Ia niger in the future sufficient to justify the |
destruction Of the noblest system
II government ever devised by mortals!-
From the very nature Of his office, and its
ligh responsibilities, he must necessarily be
The stern duty of minister.
ng the vast, complicated concerns Of this
government, affords in itself a guarantee
hat he will not attempt any violation of
,lear constitutional right. After. all, he is
10 more than the chief executive officer Of
he government. His province 10 not to
aske, but 10 execute, the laws; and it is
fact in our history that, not
the repeated efforts Of the /