Clarksville weekly chronicle. [volume] (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1865-1867, 1865-12-15
NUMBER023.

ne uoVernnent The sincere dasre for peace bv
Sil'eh am animated led me TO approve the propo-
sal, aiready made, to submit the questions which
had thus arisen between the COUNTRIES To arbitrato
iheSe questions are Of such moment that they must
nave commanded the attention of the great Pov.ts
and are 30 interviewer with the peace ami iniersts
OF every one OF them as TO have insured an trnuef-
na 1,a. cee'sion: regret to inform you that Great
% %pti'an uecnned ihe arbitrament but, on the other
hand, invited us TO the formation of n io;nt com,
mission TO settle mutual claims between tLe fyvo
countries, irom which those for the depredatioNs
before mentioned should be excluded The prpno
declined f'F ''1 ~NS~
The United States did not present the subject AZ
an impeachment Of the good faithOf a Poker which
was protesting the most friendly disposition but a.
lnVoiVlng questions of public law Of which the set
uement Is essential to the peace Of nations; and
though pecuniary reparation 10 their injured citiI
zens would have followed incidentally on a decis-
ION against Great Britain, such compensation WAS
not their primary object. They had higher mo-
i've ana IL was in the interests Of peace and JUS
tce to establish important principles of iuter1ia-
tiond law, The correspondence will be placed
oeiore you. The ground on, which the British
Minister rests his justification is substantially that
the municipal law Of nation and the domestic
interpretations of that law, are the measure of its
duty as neutral; and feel bound to declare my
opinion before you and before the world that that
OF nations. At the same time do not advise 10
any present attempt at redress by acts Of legsla-
ton. For the future, friendship between the two
countries must rest on the basis of mutual iustice
From the moment Of the establishment of our
'ree Constitution, the civilized world has been con.
Tulsed by the revolutions in the interests of doc.
racy or OF monarchyj but through all these reyo,
lutions the United States have wisely and firmly
refused TO become propagandists of repubcanism,
IL Is the only government suited to our condition.
but we have never sought to impose il on Others;
and we have consistently, followed. the advice of
washington to recommend it only by the careful
preservation and prudent use of the blessing Du-
ring all the intervening period the policy OF Eu-
ropean Powers and of the United States has, on
the whole, been harmonious, Twice, indeed rul
mors oil the invasion of some parts of America in
the interests OF monarchy, have prevailed; twice
my predecessors have had occasion to announce the
views OF this nation in respect TO such interferehce
On both occasions the remonstrance of the United
States was respected from deep conviction on the
part of European Governments, that the system or
non-interference and mutual abstinence from pro-
pagandism was the true rule for the, two heinis-
pheres. Since those times we, have advanced in
wealth and power; but we retain the same purpose
TO leave the nations of Europe to choose their own
dynasties and form their own systems of governs
ment This consistent moderation may justly de-
mand corresponding moderation. We should
regardi 1t as great calamity to ourselves TO the
cause of good government, and to the peace of the
world, should any European Power challange the
American people, as it were to the defense of re.
publcanism against foreign interference. We cam
not foresee and are unwilling to consider what
opportunities might present themselves, what COM
binations might offer to protect ourselves against
designs inimical to our form of government. Tho
United States desire to act in the future as they
have ever acted heretofore; they never will be
driven from that course but by the aggression OF
In nnrr an1. Al.
justice of those Powers to respect the system of
non-interference which has so long been sanctioned
by time, and which, by It's good results has ap-
proved itself to both continents i'd . -.Ss'
The correspondence between the United States
and France, in reference to questions which have
become subjects of discussion between Ithe two
Governments will, at proper time, be laid before
Congress.
When on the organization Of our Government,
under the Constitution the President of the United
States delivered his inaugural 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 and the
destinyof the republican model Of government ara
justly considered as dseply perhaps as finally staked
on the experiment intrusted TO the American peo-
pie" And the House of Representatives answered
Washington by the voice of Madison: 1--WE adore
the invisible hand which has'Ied the American
people through so many difficulties, to cherish
SohoeAouS lOE ueSQuf OF
can liberty" More than seventy-sx years have
glided away since these words were spoken; tho
United States have passed through severer traIs
than were foreseeni and now, at this new epoch in
our existence as one nation, with our Union puri-
fed by sorrows, and strengthened by conflict, and
established by the virtue of the people, the great
Of the occasion invites as once more to repent
with soemnity, the pledges Of our fathers to hold
ourselves answerable before fellow men for the
success OF the republican form Of government. Ex.
perience has proved its suficiency in peace and III
war II has vindicted Its authority thaough dangers
and Affections, and sudden and terrible emergen-
cies, which would have crushed any system that
had been less firmly fixed in the heart Of the people,
At the Inauguration of Washington the foroign'res
latons of the country were few, aud its trade was
repressed by hostile regulationsi now all the civi
llzed nations Of the globe welcome our commerce.
and their Governments profess toward us arnity,-
Then onr country felt its way hesitatingly along
an untred path, with States so little bound to-
gether by rapid means Of communication aA Il,
be hardly known to one another and with historic
traditions extending over very few years; now III.
tercourse between the States is swift and intimate,
the experience Of centuries has been crowded nton
few generations and has created an intense and
indestructibls nationality. Then our jurisdiction
did not reach beyond tie inconvenient boundaries
Of the territory which had achieved independence;
now, through cessions Of lands, first colonized by
Spain aud France, the country has acquired .
more complex character, aud has for its natural
limits the chain Of lakes, the Gulf OF Mexico and
on the east and the west Of the two great oceans
Other nations were wasted by cyilwars forages
before they could establish for themselves thence
essary degree of unity; the latent conviction that
onr form Of government is the best ever known 70
the world, has enabled us TO emerge ffom civil war
within four years with complete vindiealion Of
the constitutional authority Of the Ger eral Goy-
ernment, and with our local liberties aud State inT
stituons unimpaired. The throngs Of emf grahB
that crowd shores are witnesses OF the eonffA
dence of all people in our permanence. b Here Is
the great Land of free labor, where, industry is
blessed with unexampled rewards and the bread Of
the workingman Is sweetened blythe consciousness
that tue cause Of tho country "is his own eause,,
bis own safety, his own dignity" Hereieye chs
enjoys the free use of his faculties and the choice
Of activity as natural right, Here under tie
combined influence Of fruitful s6it geual cliiiie
and happy institutions, population has incfcased