Year: 1860

Our deep and heart felt gratitude is due
to that Almighty Power which has bestow-
, ed apon us such varied and numerous bless


ings throughout the past year. The gen
. eral health of the country has been excel


lent; our harvest5 have been unusually
: plentiful. and pros Gritty smiles throughout


the land. Indeed, notwithstanding our de-
merits. we have much reason to believe
from the past events in our history. that
We have enjoyed the special protection OF
. Divine Providence ever since our origin as
) nation. We have been cxaos,d to man,
; threatening and alarming difficulties in our
progress; but on each successive occasion
the impending cloud has been dissipated
, at the moment it appeared ready to burst
upon our head. and the danger to our in


stitutions has passed away, May We ever
E be under the Divine guidance and protec-


tiOn.


)! Whilst it is the duty of the President


from time to time to give to Congress
information of the state of the Union. 3"


| shall not refer in detail to the recent sad
ard bloody occurrences 1t Harpcr'S Fcny.


Still it Is Proper: to observe that these
events. however bad and cruel in them
selves derive their chief Importance from
the Apprehension that they are but symp-
toms OF an mcurable disease in the public
mind. which may break out in still more
dangerous outrages, and terminate at last
in an open war by the North to abolish
slavery in the South. Whilst for myself.
entertain no such apprehension, they
ought to afford Il solemn warning to us all
to beware of the approach of danger Our


Union Is q st..kc OF such ineStimable value
as to demand our constant and watchful
vigilance for its preservation. In this
view, let me implore my countrymen, North
and South. to cultivate the ancient feeling
of mutual forbearance and good will tow:rds
each other. and strive to i!l1y the demon
spirit Of sectional hatred and stiie now
alive in the land This advice proceeds
from tie heart of an old public function
airy whose services commenced in the last
generation. among the wise AMI conserva-
tive statesmen of that day. now nearly all
passed away. 2nd whose first and dearest
earthly wish is to leave his country tranquil
prosperous. united and powerful.


I We ought to reflect that IN this age, and
! especially in this country, there is an in
cesSant fux and refux Of public opinion
Questions which in their day as s'umad u
most threatening aspect have now nearly
gone from the memory of men. They are
volcanoes burnt out, and on the lava and
ashes and squalid seorie Of old eruptions
grow the peaceful olive, the cheerful vine,
and the sustaining corn Such. in my
opinion, will prove to be the fate Of the
present sectional excitement should those
who wisely seek to apply the remedy, con-
tinue always to cOniine their efforts within
the pale of the constitution. If this course
be pursued. the existing agitation on the
subject of domestic slavery, like everything
human. will have its day and give place to
othcr and less threatening controversies
Public opinion in this country is all pow
erful. and when it reaches dangerous cx-
cess upon any question, the good sense of
the people will furnish the corrective and
bring it back within slfe limits Still. to
hasten the aus siciogs. result. at tie pres
ent crisis, we ought t. remember that every
rational creature must be presumed to III
tend the natural consequences Of his Own
teachings. Those who announce abstract
doctrines subversive of the Constitution
and the Union must not be surprised should
their heated partizans advance one step
further. and attempt by violence to carry
these doctrines into practical effect. In
this view of the subject 1t ought never to
be forgotten that, however great may have
been the political advantage. resulting from
the Union to every portion Of our common
country. these will ali prove to he as moth
ing should the time ever arrive when they
cannot be enjoyed without serious danger
to the personal safety OF the people of
fifteen members of the confederacy. If the
peace of the domestic fresides through these
States should ever be invadcl-if the
mothers Of families within this extensive
region should not be able to retire to rest
at night without suffering dreadful appre-
tensions of what may be their own fate
and that Of their children before morning
it would be vain to recount to such
people the political benefits which result
TO them from the Union. Self-prescrva-
ton is the first instinct of nature; and
therefore any state Of society in which the
sword is all the time suspended over the
heads of the people, must at last become
intoerable. But | indulge in no such
forebodings On the contrary, l firmly
believe that the events at Harper's Ferry.
by causing the people to pause and reflect
upon the possible peril to their cherished
institutions, Will be the means, under Prov
idence, of allaying the existing excitement
and preventing future outbreaks Of a sim I
liar character. They will resolve that the
Constitution and the Union shall not be
endangered by rash counsclS, knowing that
should 1.-THE silver cord be loosed or the
golden bowl be broken at the fountain"
human power could never re-unite the scat
tered and hostile fragments.


l cordially congratulate you upon the
final settlement by the Supreme Court of
the United States of the question Of sla-
very in the Territories, which had present I
ed an aspect so truly formidable at the
commencement of my administration.
The right has been established of every
citizen to take his property Of every kind. .
including slaves, into the common Terri (
tories belonging equally to all the States
of the cOnfederaey, and to have it protected
there under the federal constitution
Neither Congress nor Territorial Legis-
lature nor any human power has any au-
thority to annul or impair this vested right. /
The supreme Judicial tribunal of the coun-
try, which is a coordinate branch of the
government has sanctioned and affirmed
these principles Of constitutional law, so
manifestly just in themselves, and so well
calculated to promote peace and harmony
among the States. 1t is striking proof
of the sense of Justice which is inherent in


i /