Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1865-12-20
NES9AGE


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MES9AGE
OF THE
President of the United States
To the t,ro Houses Of Congress at The com
mencem9nt Of the First Session Of tn
1huty-Ninth Congress.
FELLow-ClTlzENs OF THE SENATE
AND House OF REPRESENTATIVES
To express gratitude to God, in the name
of the People for the preservation OF th'
United States, is my first duty in addressing
you. Our thoughts next revert to the deatt
of the late President by an act of parricida
treason. The grief. of the enationis still fresh
it finds some solace in the consideration thai
3 he lived to enjoy the highest proof of its con,
Ssfdence by entering on the renewed term o.
Chief Magistracy, to which he had been
n that he brought the civil war sub
to close; that his loss was de.
u parts of the Union; and that
J 38 IS 8f.ls have rendered justice to his
fS :3s ~ seInoyal cast upon me q
d B Is \; s. cares than ever devolved
E 5a predecessors. To fulfill
IS r. 4 3e support and confidence
8 l7iS' sfciated with me in the va
{ rs IL + 81 of Government, and the
Fl e. s K on6dence of the people. There
+ ''$l3 II in which I can hope to gain
: Ii - Sid it is, to state with frank,
50 Pes which guide my conduct,
eation to the present state OF
Aware that the efficiency Of my
st in a great measure, depend on
s S; Ieir undivided appreciation.
: + 35on of the United States OF Amer
.endcd by it's authors to last as long
as inaes themselves Shall last. :'The
the .Sall be perpetuated'' are the words
ni9e 1Ge Confederation. To form @ more per-
" rect ect Union" by an. ordinance of tho people
of the United States, is the declared purpose
of the Constitution. The hand of Divine
+, Providence was never more plainly visible in
the affairs of men than ip the framing aud
the adopting of that instrument. 1t is, be-
yond comparison, the greatest event in Amer
lean history; aud indeed is it not, OF ell
events in modern times, the most pregnant
with consequences for every people OF the
earth The members of the Convention
which prepared it, brought 10 their work the
experience of the Confederation, Of their
several States, and of other Republican Gov
ernments, old and new but they needed add
they obtained Q wisdom superior to expert.
enee. And when for its validity 1t required
the approval OF q people that occupied large
part OF !: continent aud acted separately in
many distinct conventions, what is more
wonderful than that, after earnest contention
and long discussion, all feelings and all opln'
ions were ultimately drawn in one way to its
support? -.
The Constitution to which life was thus i'm
parted contains within itself ample resources
for It's own preservation. 1t has power to
enforce The lars, punish htreason, and ensure
domestic tranquility. In case Of the usur-
patton of the GoveInm OF State by one
mau. oran oligarchy, it becomes duty Of
the United States TO make good the guaraL-
tee to that State Of republic form of gov
erninant- -aI.d-Sn- 70 maintain the h0mo2ene5
Tonsness of ALL Does the lapse OF time reyesl
defects :? a simple mode Of amendment is
proyided in the Constitution itself, so that
its conditions can always lie made to conform
TO the requirements Of advancing civilization.
No.room is allowed even Cor the thought OF
q possibility of its coming to an end. And
these powers of self preservation have always
been asserted in their complete integrity by
every patrio.ic. Chief Magi>tratc-by Jeffer
son and jackson, not less than BY Washing
ton aud Madison. I. The parting advice Of the
Father of his Country, while yet President,
to the people Of the United States, was, that
"the free Constitution, which was the work
of their hands, might be sacrcdly main
tained;;' and the inaugural words Of Presi-s
dent Jefferson held up 1.-The preservation of
tha Gene raj Government, in its constitutional
v;aor. as the sheet anchor of our peace at
home and safety abroad" The Constitution
is the work of "the People of the United
States.:' and it,should be as indestru,tible as
the people.
It'll no. strange that the trainers of the
Constitution, which had no model.iu the past;
should not have fully conprehended the cx-
cellence Of their own work. Fresh from a
struggle against arbitrary power, many pa
triets suffered from harrassng teass Of an
ABSORPTION Of the State Governments by the
General Government, and many from dread
that the States would break away from their
orbits. But the very greatness Of our coun-
try should allay the apprehension of en-
cro.SAsSnts by the General Government
- sts that come unquestionablY with
in Sdlctl0n are SO numerous, tDat IL
naturally refuse to be embarrassed
by sSns that lie beyond it. Were it
se, the Executive would sink beneath
ths lien; the channels of justice would
be ch5Sed legislation would be obstructed
by excess; so that there is.a greater tampta-
ton to exercise some of the functions of the
General Government through the States than
TO trcspass on their rightiul sphere. "The
absolute acquiesencc in the decisions OF the
maiority" was, at the beginning of the cen
tnry, enforced by Jefferson " as the vital
principle of republics" and the events of the
last four y, ,rs have established, we will hope
forever, that there lies no appeal to force.
The maintenance of the Union brings with
it s'the support Of O. the STATE Governments in in
rirhts of any State Government to renounce
it's own place in the Union, or to nulli[y the
i,xs of the Union. The largest liberty IS
to he maintained in the discussion of the acts
of the Federal Government; but there is no
appeal from its laws, except to the various
branches of that Government itself, or to the