Weekly standard. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1858-1865, 1861-04-17
The Opinions of Washington, Jefferson, Madi.
son, jackson, Clay, and others on the Union.
READ AND CIRCULATED!

The unity of government which constitutes you
one people, is also dear to you. 1t is justly so;
for It is main pillar in the edifice of your real in
dependence, the support Of your tranquility at home,
your peace abroad Of your safety of your prosperi-
ty, of that very liberty which you SO highly prize
But as it is easy to foresee that from different causes
and from different quarters, much pains will be TAX
en- many articles employed, to weaken IN your
minds the conviction of this truth-as this is the
point in your political fortress against which the
batteries Of internal and external enemies will De
most constantly and actively (thcugh often coVerty
and insidiously} directed-it Is of infinite moment
that YOU should properly estimate the immense value
of your national union to your collective and ndvi
dual happiness; that you should cherish cordial,
hsbitual and inmovable attachment to 1t; accuS-
toming yourselves to think and to speak of it as
palladium of your political safety and prosperity;
watching for its preservation with jealous anxiety;
discountenaacins whatever may suggest even sus.
picion that it can in any event be abandoned; and
indignantly ftovning upon the first dawning ofeve-
~ attempt to ALLEVIATE any portion of our country
from the rest or to enfeeble the sacred ties which
now link together the various parts.
For this you have every inducement Of sympathy
and interest Citizens by birth or choice Of COM
moa country, that country has right to concen-
trste your affections. The name of AMERICAN, which
belongs to you in your national capacity, must al
ways exalt the just pride Of patriotism more than
INV appelation derived from local determinations.
With slight shades Of difference, you have the same
religion, manners, habits and political principles.
You have, in q common cause, fought and triumph
ed together The independence and liberty you
possess are the work of JOINT councils and joint ef-
forts Of common dangers, sufferings and success
But these considerations, however powerfully they
address themselves to your sensbility, are greatly
outweighed by those which apply more immediate
ly to your interest Here every portion OIL our
country finds the most commanding motives for
carefully guarding and preserving the union OF the
whole. .,
The North, in an unrestrained intercourse with
the South, protected by the equal laws of a common
government, finds in the productions of the latter
great additional resources of maritime and CONNER
cial enterprise and precious materials Of manutac-
turing industry The South in the same inter-
course, benefting by the same agency Of the North
sees its agriculture grow and its commerce expand.
Turning partly into its own channels the the sea-
men of the North, it finds its particular navigation
invigorated; and while it contributes in different
ways to nourish and increase the general mass of
the national navigation it looks forward to the pro-
lection Of maritime strength to which itself is I'M
equally adapted. The East, in like intercourse with
the Vest in the progressive improvement Of interior
communications by land and water, will more and
more find valuable vent for the commodities which
it brings from abroad or manufactures at home
The Vest derives from the East supplies requisite
to its growth and comfort; and what is perhaps of
still greater consequence it must of necessity owe
the secure enjoyment of the indispensable outlets
for its own productions to the weight influence, and
future maritime strength Of the Atlantic side of the
Union, directed by an indissolube community of
interest, as one nation. Any other tenure by which
the Vest can hold this essential advantage whether
derived from its own separate strength, or from an
apostatc and unnatural connection with any foreign
power must be intrinsical,y precarious
While, then, every part of our country thus feels
an immediate and particular interest in union, all
the parts combined can not fail to find in the united
of means and efforts greater strength greater
resource, proportionably greater security from
ternal danger less frequent interruption of their
peace by foreign nations and, what is of inestimae
value they must derive from union an exemption
from those broils and wars between themselves
which so frequently affiict nelghboring countries
not tied together by the same government, which
their own rivalships alone would be suficientto
produce, but which opposite foreign alliances, at
tschments, and intrgues, would stimulate and en-
bitter. Hence, likewise, they will avoid the neces-
sity of those overgrown military establishments
which, under any form of government, are inauspi-
cious to liberty, and which are to be regarded as
particularly hostile to republican liberty. In this
main prop of your liberty, and that the love of the
one ought to endear to you the preservation of the
other GEORGE WASHINGTON
If there be any among us who would wish to dis
solve this Union or to change its republican form,
let them stand undisturbed as monuments Of the
safety with which error Of opinion may be tolerated
where reason is left free to combat it.
Absolute acquiescence in the decisions of the ma
Sc
there is no appeal but to force. the vital principle
and immediate parent of despotism.
THOMAS JEFFERSON.
in all the views that may be taken of questions
Between the State governments and the general gov
ernment the awful consequences of final rupture
and dissolution of the Union should never for mo-
nent be loss sight Of Such prospec: must be de-
preeated-must be shuddered at by every friend of
his country, to liberty, to the happiness of man.
For, in the event of dissolution of the Union an
impssibilty Of ever renewing 1t is brought home to
every mind by the difficulties encountered in estab
fishing il. The propensities of all communities to
divide, when not pressed into unity by external
dangers is . truth well understood. There is no
instance Of people inhabiting even small island,
If remote from foreign danger, and sometimes in
spite OF that PRESSURE who not divided into alien
rival, hostile tribes. The happy union of these
States is wonder; their constitution miracle
their example the hope Of liberty throughout the
world. Wo to the ambition that would mediate
the destruction of either. MADISON,
What have you to gain by division and dissen-
sions? Delude not yourselves with the belief that
= breach once made may be afterwards repaired
If the Union is severed the line of separation
will grow wider and wider, and the controversies
which are now debated and settled in the halls of
legislation will then be tried in fields of battle, and
determined by the sword Neither should you de-
ceve yourselves with the hope that the first line of
separation would be the permanent one, and that
nothing but harmony and concord would be found
in the new associations formed upon the dissolution
Of the Union. Local interest would still be found
there, and unchastened ambition. And if the recol-
lection Of common dangers, in which the people Of
these United States stood side by side against the
common foe; the memory Of victories won by their
united valor; the prosperity and happiness they
have enjoyed under the present constitution the
proud name they bear as citizens Of this great re-
public; if a these recoections and proofs Of COM
mon interest are not strong enouOh IN hind nc ia