Year: 1860




Our deep and heart felt gratitude is
due to that Almighty Power which has
bestowed upon us such varied and nu-
merous blessings throughout the past
year. The general health Of the coun-
try has been excellent; our harvests,
have been unusually plentiful, and pros
perity smiles throughout the land
/ Indeed, Notwithstanding our demerits,
we have much reason to believe from
the past eventsin our history, that we
have enjoyed the special protection of
! DiviueaprOvidenee eyec since our origin
as q nation. We have been exposed to
many threatening and alarming Difficult
ties in our progress; but on each sue
cessiyc occasion the impending cloud
has been dissipated at the moment it ap-
peared ready to burst upon our head,
and the. danger to our institutions has
passed away. May We ever be under
the divine guidance and protection


Whilst it is the duty of the President
"from time to. time to give to Congress
information of the state of the Union"
/ shall not refer in detail to the recent
sad and bloody occurrences at Harper's
Ferry. Stillit is proper to observe that
these events however bad and cruel iu
themselves, derive their chief impor-
tance from the apprehension that they
are but symptoms of aL incurable dis
easo ia the public mind, which may
break out in still more dangerous out
RACES apd terminate at last in an open
war by the North to abolish slavery in
the South. Whilst for myself, | enter
tain no such apprehension they ought
to afford solemn warning to us all to
beware OF the approach Of danger. Our
Union is stake of such inestimable
value as to demand our constant and
watchful vigilance for its preservation.
In this view, let me implore my coun-
trymen, North and South, to cultivate
the ancient feelings of mutual forbear-
ance and good will toward each other,
and strive to alay the demon spirit Ct
sectional hatred and strife now alive in
the land. This advice proceeds from
the heart of an old public function
arv whose services commenced in the
last generation, among the wise and
conservative statesmen Of that day, n ow
nearly all passed away, and whose first
and dearest earthly wish is to leave his
country Tranquil, prosperous, united,
and powerful.


.fa We ought to reflect that in this age
aud especially in this country, there is
ar incessant Aux and reHux of public
opinion Questions which in their da5
assumed most threatening aspect
have now nearly gone from the memor!
Of men. They are ''volcanoes burnt out
and on the lava and ashes and squalit
.score@ of old eruptions grow the peac
ful olive, the cheering vine, and the sus
tanning corn" Such, in my opinion
will prove to be the fate Of the presen
SECTIONAL excitement, should those VIII
wisely seek to apply the remedy, con
tinue alwaysto to con6ne their efforts with
in the pale of the Constitution. If thi
course be pursued, the existing agitation
on the subject of domestic slavery, lik
everything human, will have it's day an
give place to other and less threatening
controversies. Public opinion in thi
country is all-powerful, and when
reaches q dangerous excess upon an
question, the good sense Of the peopl
will furnish the corrective and bring
back within safe limits, Still, to hast
en- this auspicious result, at the presen
present. crisis, we ought to remembe
that every rational creature must b
presumed 10 intend the, natural const
qucnces Of his own teaching. Thos
who announce abstract doctrines sui
versive Of the Constitution and the [
MON, must not be surprised should the
heated partisians advance one step fuI
ther, and attempt by violence to carr
those doctrines into practical effect
In this view of the subject it ougf
never to be forgotten that, howev'
great may have been tho political az
vantages resulting from the Union
every portion of our common conntr.
these, would all prove to be as no,hin
should the time ever arrive when the
cannot be enjoyed without serious dal
ger to the personal safety Of the peop
of fifteen members of the confederac


If the peace of the domestic iresit
throughout these States should ever
invaded --if the mothers of famili


within this extensive region should n
be able to retire, to rest at night wit
out suffering dreadful apprehensions


what may be their own fate and that


their children before morning-it wo
DO vain to recount to such people Il


political benefits which result to the
from the Union. Self-persevation


the 6rst instinct Of nature; and ther
fore any state of society in which q
sword is all the time suspended over 4
heads of the people, must at last becor
intolerable. But indulge in no SUI


gloomy forebodings. On the contrar
/ firmly believe that the events at Ha
pers rsrrJ, by causing the people


pause and reflect npon the possit
peril to their cherished institutions, W


be- the means under Providence, of {
laying the existing excitement and pr
venting future outbreaks of similar cha
aoter. They will resolve that the Go


..... ~. IIn;on sbolI not ha a