North Branch democrat. [volume] (Tunkhannock, Pa.) 1854-1867, 1865-12-20

the S.a;es is swift and intimate the expe-
riance Of centuries has been crowded into
4 few generations. and has created an in
tonse indrstructible nationality, Then
onr Jurisdiction did not reach beyond tho
ipcanyenient boundaries of the territory
which had achieved independence now,
throuuh cessions of lands,first colonizedby
Spain and France, the country has acquir-
ed more complex character. and has for
;ts 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 establish for themselves the necessary
/ daoree ofur;ty the latent conviction that
onr form of government is the best ever
| known to the world, has enabled US to
nmeroe from civil war within four years,
with q complete vindication of the constitu-
| tional authority of the General Government
and with our local liberties and States in
stitutions unimpared. The throngs of en-
-nts that crowd to our shores are wit
nj sses of the commence =. ~ peop'o' -
our perma1ence. Here every one enjoys
the free use of his faculties and the choice
of activity is a natural right. Here under
the combined influence of a fruitful soil,
genial climes and happy institutions, popu-
lation has increased fifteen fold within a
century. Here, through the easy devel-
opment of boundless resources. wealth has
increased with two-fold greater rapidity
than numbers, SO that we have become Sc
cure against the financial viciSsitudes of
other countries, and, alike in business and
opinion, are selfcontrolled and truly y'indepen-
dent. Here more and more care is given
to provide education for every one born
on our soil. Here religion, released from
political connection with the civil govern
ment, refuses to subserve the craft of states
men, and becomes, in its independence, the
spiritual life OF the people. Here tolera-
ton is extended to every opinion, i'll the
quiet certainty that truth needs only a fair
field to secure the victory. Here the hu-
man mind goes forth unshackled in the
pursuit of science, to collect stores of
knowledge and acquire an ever-increasing
mastery over over the forces of nature
Here the national domain is offered and
held in millions of separate freeholds. so
that our fellow citizens, beyond the occu-
pants of any other part of the earth, cons
titute in reality people. Here exists the
democratic form of goyernm ent and that
form of government, by the confession of
European statesmen, 'gives a power of
! II Ia ~
incorporates every man with the State, and
arouses everything that belongs to the
soul"
Where. in past history, does a parallel
exist to the public happiness which is with
in the reach of the people Of the United
States? Where, in any part the globe,
can institutions be found so suited to their
habits or so entitled te their love as their
own free constitution !? Every one of them,
| then, in whatever partsof the land he has
his home must wish it perpetuity. Who
of then will not now acknowledge, in the
! words of WAsnxGToN, that every step
bv which tie people Of the United States
bovn o1v.nced 20 the character of an in
danondnn+ nat,,,n. secsEs to have been lis
tingnshed by some t52ken ct rroVldent' al
agency % Who will noi iioin %Ith me IN
the PRAYER, that the invisible hand ""'cn
has led us through the clouds that ol0olhe1 , !,
around our path will so guide us on","
to perfect restoration OF fraternal affec
ton, that we ofthis day may be able to
transmit our great Inheritance, of State
Governments in all their rights. of the Gen.
Government in its whole constitutional Wig
or, to our posterity, and they to theirs
through countless generations
ANDREW JOHNSON.
WAsHINGTox, Dec. 4, 1865