The Tiffin weekly tribune. (Tiffin, Ohio) 1859-1868, 1865-12-14

beyond the inconvenient boundarici
, Of the territory which had achieved
independence now, through cessions
of lands, first colonized by Spain and
France. The country has acquired
more complex character, and has for
its natural limits 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 estab-
Ilish for themselves the necessary de-
gree Of unity; the latent conviction
Ithat our form of government is
the best ever known TO the world, has
enabled us to emerge from civil war
within ] years, with complete vim
dication of the constitutional author
ity Of tho general government, and
with our local liberties and State in
stitution unimpoircd. The throng of
Iomigrants that crowd to our shores
are witnesses Of the confidence OF all
people in our pcrmancncc. Here rs
the great land of free labor, whore
industry is blessed with uncNampled
rewards, aud the bread Of The work
ingman sswcctcncd by the conscious.
ness that the cause of the country "is
his own causc--his own saicty-his
own dignity Here every one enjoys
the free use Of his faculties aud the
choice of activity as natural right.
Here, under the combined influence
OF fruitful soil--gcuial climcs and
happy IN titutions, population has in
creased fifteen fold within century. !
Hero, through the easy development
Of boundlcss resources, wealth has in I.
creased with two-fold greater rapidity |,
than numbers. 80 thatwc have become |
secure against the financial yicissi-
iudcs of other countries, and, alike in
business aud IN opinion, are sclf-con.
tired aud truly independent. Here
more aud more care is given to pro-
vide education for every one born on |
our soil Here religion, released |
from political connection with the |
civil government, refuses to subseryc |
the craft of statesmen, and becomes,
in its independence, the spiritual life
of the people. Here tolcration is cx-
tended to every opinion, in the quiet
certainty that truth reeds ouly fair
field to secure victory. Here the
human mind goes forth unshachlcd in
the pursuit of scicntc, 10 collect stores
# knowledge aud acquire an cvcr-in-
mastery over the forces of
nature. Here the national domain is
,Icrcd mud held in millions of scpa.
rate rtechulds, so that our fellow ciu- !
lcus, beyond the occupants of any
other part Of the earth, constitute in
reality people. Hero exists the
democratic form of goycrnmcnt--and
that form of government, by the cen
icssion Of European statesmen, gives |
a power of which no other form is ca
pablr, because it incorporates every /
man with the State, aud arouscs eve.
rything that belong to the soul. -
in past history, does a paral- |
'cl exist 20 the public happiness which |
Is within the reach of the people of
he United States? Where. in any
part of the globe, can institutions be
found 80 suited to their habits or so
entitled to their love as their own free
Every one Of them,
then, in whatever part Of the land he
has his homc, must wish its porpotui-
". Who OF them will not acknowl.
edge, in the words. Of Washington,
that every step by which the peo-
pie of the United States have advanced |
to the character of an independent
nation, seems to have been distin-
gushcd by some token of fprovidcntial
rgcncy." Who will not join witt me
n the PRAYER that the iuvi 'iblc hand
which has led us through the clouds
that gloomcd around oar path, will so
guide us onward to perfect rcstora-
ton of hptcmal affection, that. We of
this day may lie able to transmit our
great Inheritance, Of Stltc govern
mcuts in all their rights ofthc general
in its whole Constitu-
tional vigor, to our postcrity, and they
to theirs through countless genera
tions ? ANDREW JOHNSON.
WASHINGTON, December 1. 1868,