Fayetteville observer. [volume] (Fayetteville, Tenn.) 1850-1966, 1865-12-21
{ Proprietor.
NO. 49,

i -
self to both continents.
The correspondence between the
United States and France, in ref
erence to questions which have be-
come subjects of discussion be-
tween the two Governments, will,
at a proper time, be laid before
Congress.
CHARACTER AND VALUE OF FREE
GOVERNMENT.
When, on the organization Of
our Government, under the CONF
stitution, the President Of the
United States delivered his inau-
gural address to the two Houses Of
Congress, he said to them, and
through them to the country and to
mankind, that the preservation
of the sacred fire of liberty ard
the destiny of the republican
model of government are justly
considered as deeply, perhaps as
finally, staked on the experiment.
intrusted to the American people"
And the House of Representatives
answered Washington by tie
voice Of Madison: Eve adcre
the invisible hand which has led
the American people, through so
many difficulties, to cherish a con-
scious responsibility for the destiny
ofrepubliean liberty" More than
seventy-six years have glided aw0y'
since these words were spoken ;
the United States have passed
through severer trials than were
foreseen; and now, at this new
epoch in our existence as one ma
tion, with our Union purified by
sorrows, and strengthened by COLI
1ict, and established by the virtue
of the people, the greatness of the
occasion invites us once more to
repeat with solemnity the pledges
of our fathers to hold ourselves an
swerable before our fellow-men for
the success of the republican foIni
of government. Experience has
proved its suffciency III peace and
in war: it has vindicated It's au-
thority through dangers, and afIic-
tions, and sudden and terrible
emergencies, which would have
crushed any system that had been
less firmly fixed in the heart Of
the people. At the Inauguration
of Washington the foreign relations
of the country were few. and its
trade was reprcssed by hostile reg
ulations; now all civilized nations
of the globe welcome our commerce,
and their Governments profess to-
wards us amity. Then our coun-
try felt its way hesitatingly along
an untried path, with States so
little bound togather by rapid
means Of communication as to be
hardly known TO one another, and
with historic traditions extending
over very few years; now inter
course between the States is swift
and intimate; the experience of
centuries has been crowded into q
few generations, and has created
an intense, indestructible nation
atty. Then our jurisdiction did
not reach beyond the convenient
boundaries of the territory which
had achieved independence now
through cessious of lands, first col
onized by Spain and France, the
country has acquired More COM
plex character, and has for its nat
ural limi's the chain of Lakes, the
Gulf Of Mexico, and on the east
and the west the two great oceans:
Other nations were wasted by civil
wars for ages before they could
establish for themselves the nee
essary degree of unity; the latent
conviction thatour form of govern
ment is the best ever known in
the world, has enabled us to emerge
from civil war within four years,
with complete vindication of
the constitutional authority of the
General Government, and with
our local liberties and State insti-
tutions unimpaired. The throngS
of emigrants that crowd to our
shores are witnesses of the conf
denee of all people in our pefma-
nence. Here is the great land of
free labor, where industry Is blsss-
ed with unexampled rewards, and
the bread Of the wofkinsman
is sweetened by the conscionsness
that the cause of the country SO
his own cause, his own safety, as
own dignity" Here every ons