^^ '<# -fyttn^ h^tr^CoA^ 2^ QJorngU Imustattg Sithtarg artljara, Nnti l0rb FROM THE BENNO LOEWY LIBRARY COLLECTED BY BENNO LOEWY I8S4-I919 BEQUEATHED TO CORNELL UNIVERSITY Cornell University Library JK1871 .075 + The native American: 3 1924 030 480 382 olin Overs Cornell University Library The original of this book is in the Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924030480382 sS^t^- '%5.t' i (Bm®mmM wM.^wm(^^®m. Eng-ra-vecLljjr J,B Longacre froiix a niimature iyMf Trott. THE if NATIVE AMERICAN; n vf-'ilt (or the JJroplc. TIME S >ODLEfT OrFSl'KIXG IS HEB LAST. r Ovv n<,cVo<" COVlAP. -1 PHILinELTHlt . or>R, ,5 l!::;5t.\lt stueet. JIDCCCXLV. /^. Qc^cxSfJ Entered according to the act of Congress,- in the year 1845, by I I IIectoh Obk, in the Clerli's Office of the District Court of the | United States, in and for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. ORR, PRINTER, PHILAD. % PUBLISHER'S PREFACE The plan of this volume has been under considera- tion for several years. The sentiments of truth and patriotism, promulged by the fathers of the Republic, are too little known ; and the grave and unattractive character of such essays prevents their general circulation in ordinary typography. The graces of outward ornament, so often applied to unworthy purposes, are here pressed into nobler use. The style chosen was suggested by the daily business of the publisher ; but he must also confess that, having long regarded American Productions in a rose colored light, he is now desirous that others should partieipate in the same privilege, both mental and physical. The first three articles of the volume need no in- troduction. The Elders of the Nation there speak to us from the grave : to the impressiveness of their counsel in earlier days is now added the solemn dignity of death ! wm^'^^^^m^i^^'^^^^c^^^^^f^mmm^ vm The remaining pages exhibit the views of a portion of the present generation upon the public welfare. — The facts and inferences there set forth appeal to the whole people for judgment as to their consistency with the universally approved doctrines which pre- cede them. To this tribunal they are submitted with full confidence, and its impartial decision is all that is asked. In ofiering this work to his countrymen, the Pub- lisher is fully sensible of the humble part he bears in the enterprise ; and yet, as " Each moment plies its pigmy sickle, emulous Of Time's enormous scythe" — his exertions may not prove utterly worthless. In the phrase of an old editor, he brings a nosegay of rare flowers, or rather a bunch of balsamic plants, of sovereign virtue and enduring fragrance, with nothing of his own but the thread thai ties it, Philada. 1845. J fe^^^^^^g^ro^s§^^^^^^;4 ^^M©!r®sr. iJiDiiiJ S| j| GEORGE W A S H I X G T O N, I' fe m ■ ^'1 "' ^ TO HIS COUNTRYMEN. ^ r^ m 1^ 13 ■■1 ^J., t»-ij*- ^•■*i*s"i'-'-&<'^''Uji*^itt»& luiiAifei m ¥??^; ^j^'T]^!¥:^- v ' j^|^^^w^^*^^!^|^ywx*^^ '^e^3:g^^ FAEEWELL ADDEESS. FELLOW CITIZENS, The period of a new election of a citizen to administer the executive government of the United States being not far distant, and the time actually arrived when your thoughts must be employed in designating the person vs^ho is to be clothed with that important trust, it appears to nie proper, especially as it may conduce to a more distinct expression of the public voice, that I should now apprise you of the resolution I have formed, to decline being considered among the number of those out of whom a choice is to be made. I beg you, at. the same time, to do me B 14 FAREWELL ADDRESS. m the justice to be assured, that this reso- lution has not been taken without a strict regard to all the considerations appertain- ing- to the relation which binds a dutiful citizfen to his country ; and that, in with- drawing the tender of service which silence in my situation might imply, I am influenced by no difninution of zeal for your future interest; no deficiency of grateful respect for your past kindness ; but am supported- by a full conviction that the step is compatible with both. The acceptance of and continuance hitherto in the office to which your suf- frages have twice called me, have been a uniform sacrifice of inclination to the opinion of duty, and to ' a deference for what appeared to be your desire. I con- stantly hoped, that it would be much earlier in my power, consistently with motives which I was not at liberty to dis- regard, to return to that retirement from which 1 had been reluctantly drawn. FAREWELL ADDRESS. 15 The strength of my inclination to this, previous to the last election, had even led to the preparation of an address to declare it to you; but mature reflection on the then perplexed and critical posture of our affairs vi^ith foreign nations, and the una- nimous advice of persons entitled to my confidehoe, impelled me to abandon the idea. I rejoice that the state of your concerns, external as well as internal, no longer renders the pursuit of inclination incom- patible with the sentiment of duty or propriety ; and am persuaded, whatever partiality may be retained for my services, that in the present circumstances of our country, you will not disapprove my de- termination to retire. The impressions with which I first undertook the arduous trust, were ex- plained on the proper occasion. In the discharge of this trust, I will only say, that I have, with good intentions, contri- ••yMvwx W^^^^^^^^^^S^^^^ 16 FAREWELL ADDRESS'. buted towards the organization and ad- ministration of the government, the best exertions of which avery fallible judgment was capable, Not unconscious, in the outset, of the inferiority of my quaUfica- '^ tioils, experience in my own eyes, perhaps still more in the eyes of others, has strengthened the motives to diffidence of myself; and every day the increasing weight of years admonishes me more and more, that the shade of retirement is as necessary to me as it' will be welcome. Satisfied that if any circumstances have given peculiar value to my services, they were temporary, I have the consolation to believe, that while choice and prudence invite me to quit the political scene, pa- triotism does hot forbid. In looking forward to the moment which is intended to terminate the career of my public life, my feelings do not permit me to suspend the deep acknow- ledgment of that debt of gratitude which FAREWELL ADDRESS.. 17 I owe to my beloved country, for the many honors it has conferred on me ; still more for the steady confidence with which it has supported me; and for the opportunities I have thence enjoyed of manifesting my inviolable attachment, by services faithful and persevering, though in usefulness unequal to my zeal. If benefits have resulted to our country from these services, let it always be remember- ed to your praise, and a& an instructive example in our annals, that under cir- cumstances in which the passions, agi- tated in every direction, were liable to mislead, amidst appearances sometimes dubious, vicissitudes of fortxme often dis- couraging, in situations in which not unfrequently want of success has counte- nanced the spirit of criticism, the con- stancy of your support was the essential prop of the efforts, and a guaranty of the plans by which they were eff'ected. Pro- foundly penetrated with this idea, I shall fe I I I h 18 FAREWELL ADDRESS. carry it witli me to the grave, as a strong incitement to unceasing vows that Heaven may continue to you the choicest tokens of its beneficence; that your union and brotherly affection may be perpetual ; that the free constitution, which is the work of your hands, may be sacredly maintain- ed; that its administration in every de- partment may be stamped with wisdom and virtue ; that, in fine, the happiness of the people of these states under the auspices of liberty, may be made complete, by so careful a preservation, and so pru- dent a use of this blessing, as will acquire to them the glory of recommending it to the applause, the affection, and adoption of every nation which is yet a stranger to it. Here perhaps I ought to stop. But a solicitude for your welfare, which cannot end but with myself, and the apprehension of danger, natural to that solicitude, urge me, on an occasion like the present, to It SsE^^^gg^^g^SaSg^egr^^^gp^-o!!? m f u i [i: k^ FAREWELL ADDRESS. 19 I offer to your solemn contemplations, and to recommend to your frequent review, some sentiments which are the result of much reflection, of no inconsiderable observation, and which appear to me all- important to the permanency of your felicity as a people. These will be offered to you with the more freedom, as you can only see in them the disinterested warn- ings of a parting friend, who can possibly have no personal motives to bias his counsel.- Nor can I forget, as an encour- agement to it, your indulgent reception of ihy sentiments on a former and not dissimilar occasion. Interwoven as is the love of liberty with every ligament of your hearts, no recommendation of mine is necessary to fortify or confirm the attachment. The unity of government which con- stitutes you one people, is also now dear to you. It is justly so; for it is a main pillar in the edifice of your real indepen- 20' FA.KEWE1L ADDRESS. dence, the support of your tranquillity at home, your peace abroad ; of your safety, of . your prosperity ; of that very liberty which you so highly- prize. But as it is easy to foresee, that, .from different causes and from different quarters, much pains will be taken, , many artifices ernployed to weaken in your minds the conviction of tl^is truth ; as this is the point in your political fortress- against which the bat- teries of internal and external; enemies will be most constantly and -activiely (fhough often covertly and insidiously) directed, it is of infinite moment that you should properly estimate the immense value of your .national Union to your, col- lective and individual happiness; that ' you should cherish a cordial, habitual, and immovable attachment to it; ac- customing yourselves to think and speak of it as of the palladium of your political safety and prosperity ; watching for its preservation with jealous anxietv ; dis- ^ ^^^^^^^^ie^35^5^^^^^3^. ^^^^^E ^^^^^^^^^^^^l^ i FAREWELL ADDRESS. 21 countenancing whatever may suggest even a suspicion that it can in any event be abandoned ; and indignantly frowning upon the first dawning of every attempt to alienate any portion of our country from the rest, or to enfeeble the sacred ties which now link together the various parts. For this you have every inducement of sympathy and interest. Citizens, by birth or choice, of a common country, that country has a right to concentrate your affections. The name of American, which belongs to you in your national capacity, must also exalt the just pride of patriotism, more than any appellation de- rived from local discriminations. With slight shades of difference, you have the same religion, manners, habits and politi- cal principles. You. have, in a common cause, fought and triumphed together : the independence and liberty you possess are the work of joint councils and joint efforts, FAREWELL ADDRESS, of common dangers, sufferings, and suc- cesses. But these considerations, however pow- erfully they address themselves to your sensibility, are greatly outweighed by those which apply more immediately to your interest. Here every portion of our country finds the most commanding mo- tives for carefully guarding and preserving the union of the whole. The North, in an unrestrained inter- course with the South, protected by the equal laws of a common government, finds, in the productions of the latter, great ad- ditional resources of maritime and com- mercial enterprise, and precious materials of manufacturing industry. The South, in the same intercourse, benefiting by the agency of the North, sees its agriculture grow, and its commerce expanded. Turn- ing partly into its own channels the sea- men of the North, it finds its particular navigation invigorated ; and while it con- z:)^.cy^jc^^.cv^cyy^/:x^/^y^/z^v^jss^/s^. Ki^rX-yrX^irXyrXTfrX^nt FAREWELL ADDRESS. ■Vii tributes, in different ways, to nourish and increase the general mass of the national navigation, it looks forward to the protec- tion of the maritime strength to which itself is tmequally adapted. The East, in a like intercourse with the West, already finds, and in the progressive improvement of interior communications, by land and water, will more and more find a valuable vent for the commodities which it brings from abroad, or manufactures at home. The West derives from the East supplies requisite to its growth and comfort ; and what is perhaps of still greater conse- quence, it must of necessity owe. the secure enjoyment of indispensable outlets for its own productions to the weight, influence, and the future maritime strength of the Atlantic side of the Union, directed by an indissoluble community of interest as one nation. Any other tenure by which the West can hold this essential advantage, whether derived from its own separate 24 FAREWELL ADDRESS, strength, or from an apostate and unnatu- ral connexion with any foreign power, must be intrinsically precarious. While, then, every part of our country thus feels an immediate and particular in- terest in Union, all the parts combined cannot fail to find in the united mass of means and efforts greater strength, greater resource, proportionably greater security from external danger, a less frequent inter- ruption of their peace by foreign nations ; and, what is of inestimable value, they must derive from Union an exemption from those broils and wars between them- selves, which so frequently afflict neighs bouring countries not tied together by the same government ; which their ovm rival- ships alone would be sufficient to produce, but which opposite foreign alliances, at- tachments, and intrigues would stimulate and embitter. Hence, likewise, they will avoid the necessity of those overgrown military establishments, which, under any giS^K»«S»»s€3ri1S€S^^5 awed, adopted upon full investigation and mature deliberation, completely free in its principles, in the distribution of its powers, uniting security with energy, and contain- ing, within itself, a provision for its own fMXii^i^Jyii&iy^::^'^^, FAREWELL ADDRESS •29 amendment, has a just claim to your con- fidence and your support. Respect for its authority, compHance with its lawsj acqui escence in its measures, are duties enjoined by the fundamental maxims of true Lib- erty. The basis of our political system, is the right of the people to make and to alter their constitution of government ; but the constitution which at any time exists, till changed by an explicit and authentic act of the whole people, is sacredly obligatory upon all. The very idea of the power and right of the people to establish government, presupposes the duty of every individual to obey the established government; All obstructions to the execution of the laws, all combinations and associations, under whatever plausible character, with real design to direct, control, counteract, or awe the regular deliberations and action of the constituted authorities, a^e destruc-' tive to the fundamental principle, and of fatal tendency. They serve to organize faction, to give it an artificial and extraor- dinary force; to put in the place .of the' delegated will of the. nation, the will of a party, often a small but artful and enter- prising minority of the community ; and according to the alternate triumphs of dif- ferent parties, to make the ptiblic adminis- tration the mirror of the ill-concerted and incongruous projects of faction, rather than the organ of consistent plans digested by common councils, and modified by mutual interests. However combinations or associations of the above description may now and then answer popular ends, they are likely, in the course of time and things, to become potent engines, by which cunning, ambi- tious, and unprincipled men will be en- abled to subvert the power of the people, and to usurp for themselves the reins of government; destroying afterwards the very engines which lifted them to unjust dominion. s i I i i 15 ^^^^^ ■fss^fsSSr^^Q^f^s^^ It FAREWELL ADDRESS. 31 B" Towards the preservation of your go- vernment, and the permanency of your present happy state, it is requisite, not only that you steadily discountenance ir- regular oppositions to its acknowledged authority, but also that you resist with care the spirit of innovation upon its prin- ciples, however specious the pretexts. One method of assault may be, to effect in the forms of the constitution altei'ations ■\\'hich wiU impair the energy of the sys- tem, and thus to luidermine ^vhat cannot be directly overtluowai. In aU the changes to which you may be incited, remember that time and habit are at least as neces- sary to fix the true character of govern- ments, as of other human institutions ; that experience is the surest standard by which to test the real tendency of the existing constitution of a country ; that facilit}- in changes upon the credit of mere hypo- thesis and opinion, exposes to perpetual change, ffom the endless variety of h3-po- 32 FARliWELL ADDRESS. thesis and opinion ; and remember, especi- ally, that for the efficient management of your common interest, in a country so ex- tensive as ours, a government of as much vigour as is consistent with the perfect security of liberty is indispensable. Lib- erty, itself, will find in such a government, M^ith power properly distributed arul ad- justed, its surest guardian. It is indeed little else than a name, where the govern- ment is too feeble to withstand the enter- prises of faction, to confine each mombor of the society within the limits prescribed by the laws, and to maintain all in the secure and tranquil enjoyment of the righls of person and property. I have already intimated to you the danger of parties in the state, with a par- ticular reference to the founding of them on geographical discriminations. Let me now ta]<^c a more comprohcasive view, and warn you m the most solemn manner ^J^xfJjji^L'T^'K^^J.WoL^^ 1 I k ^ against the baneful effects of the spirit of party generally. This spirit, unfortunately, is inseparable from our nature, having its root in the strongest passions of the human mind. It exists, under different shapes, in all gov- ernments, more or less stifled, controlled, or repressed ; but in those of the popular form, it is seen in its greatest rankness, and is truly their worst enemy. The alternate dominion of one faction over another, sharpened by the spirit of revenge, natural to party dissension, which in different ages and countries has perpe- trated the most horrid enormities, is itself a frightful despotism. But this leads at length to a more formal and permanent despotism. The disorders and miseries which generally result, gradually incHne the minds of men to seek security and re- pose in the absolute power of an individual ; and, sooner or later, the chief of some pre- vailing faction, more able or more fortunate I § 34 FAREWELL ADDRESS. than his competitors, turns this disposition to the purposes of his own elevation, on the ruins of pubhc liberty. Without looking forward to an extremity of this kind, (which nevertheless ought not to be entirely out of sight,) the com- mon and continual mischiefs of the spirit of party are sufficient to make it the inter- est and duty of a wise people to discourage and restrain it. It serves always to distract the public councils, and enfeeble the public adminis- tration. It agitates the community with ill-founded jealousies and false alarms; kindles the animosity of one part against another; foments occasionally riots and insurrection. It opens the door to foreign influence and corruption, which find a facilitated access to the government itself, through the channels of party passions. Thus the policy and the will of one coun- try are subjected to the policy and will of another. M^^^^W^^^^^ FAREWELL ADDRESS. 35 There is an opinion that parties, in free countries, are usefal checks upon the ad- ministration of the government, and serve to keep ahve the spirit of liberty. This, within certain limits, is probably true; and in governments of a monarchical cast, patriotism may look with indulgence, if not with favour, upon the spirit of party. But in those of the popular character, in governments purely elective, it is a spirit not to be encouraged. From their natural tendency, it is certain there will always be enough of that spirit for every salutary purpose. And, there being constant dan- ger of excess, the effort ought to be, by force of public opinion, to mitigate and assuage it. A fire not to be quenched, it demands a uniform vigilance to prevent its bursting into a flame, lest, instead of warming, it should consume. It is important, likewise, that the habits of thinking in a free country, should in- spire caution in those intrusted with its 30 FAREWELL ADDRESS. administration, to confine themselves witli- in their respective constitutional spheres, avoiding, in the exercise of their powers of one department, to encroach upon another. The spirit of encroachment tends to con- solidate the powers of the departments in one, and thus to create, whatever the form of government, a real despotism. A just estimate of that love of power, and prone- ness to abuse it, which predominates in the human heart, is suflBicient to satisfy us of the truth of this position. The necessity of reciprocal checks in the exercise of po- litical power, "by dividing and distributing it into different depositories, and constitu- ting each the guardian of the public weal against invasions by others, has been evinced by experiments ancient and mod- ern : some of them in our own country and under our own eyes. To preserve them must be as necessary as to institute them. If, in the opinion of the people, the distri- bution or modification of the constitutional 1?'J^^^ se3K^ts?it^^is»^*5^e^ FAREWELL ADDRESS powers be in any particular wrong, let it be corrected by an amendment in a way which the constitution designates. But let there be no change by usurpation ; for though this^ in one instance, may be the instrument of good, it is the customary Aveapon by which free governments are destroyed. The precedent must always greatly overbalance in permanent evO., any partial or transient benefit which the use can at any time yield. Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to pohtical prosperity, Religion and Morality are indispensable supports. In vain would that man claim the tribute of patriotism, who should labour to subvert these great pillars of human happiness, these firmest props of the duties of men and citizens. The mere poHtician, equally with the pious man, ought to respect and cherish them. A volume could not trace all their connexions with private and pub- lic felicity. Let it simply be asked, where E I I 35 i I f I t I is the security for property, for reputation, for life, if the sense of religious obligation desert the oaths, which are the instruments of investigation in courts of justice ? And let us with caution indulge the supposition, that morality can be maintained without religion. Whatever may be conceded to the influence of refined education on minds of peculiar structure, reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national mo- rality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle. 'Tis substantially true, that virtue or morality is a necessary spring of popular government. The rule indeed extends with more or less force to every species of free government. Wl^o that is a sincere friend to it, can look with indifference upon attempts to shake the foundation of the fabric ? Promote, then-, as an object of primary importance, institutions for the general diffusion of knowledge. In proportion as ^mmmmMi^smstm^m^ the structure of a government gives force to public opinion, it is essential that public opinion should be enlightened. As a very important source of strength and security, cherish public credit. One method of preserving it, is to use it as sparingly as possible ; avoiding occasions of expense by cultivating peace ; but re- membering also, that timely disbursements to prepare for danger, frequently prevent much greater disbursements to repel it; avoiding likewise the accumulation of debt, not only by shunning occasions of expense, but by vigorous exertions, in time of peace, to discharge the debts vi^hich un- avoidable wars may have occasioned, not ungenerously throwing upon posterity the burthen which we ourselves ought to bear. The execution of these maxims belongs to your representatives ; but it is necessary that public opinion should co-operate. To facilitate to them the performance of their duty, it is essential that you should i^^^^^^^ 40 FAREWELL ADDRESS. practically bear in rnind, that towards the payment of debts there must be revenue ; that to have revenue, there must be taxes ; that no taxes can be devised which are not more or less inconvenient and unplea- sant ; that the intrinsic embarrassment in- separable from the selection of the proper objects, (which is always a choice of diffi- culties,) ought to be a decisive motive for candid construction of the conduct of the government in making it, and for the spirit of acquiescence in the measures for obtain- ing revenue, which the public exigencies may at any time dictate. Observe good faith and justice towards all nations : cultivate peace and harmony with all : religion and morality enjoin this conduct ; and can it be, that good policy does not equally enjoin it? It will be worthy of a free, enlightened, and at no distant period, a great nation, to give to mankind the magnanimous and too novel example of a people always guided by an ^- 't3^f^:K^^fmSfS^^3ri^SfS^^^^S:^ FAREWELL ADDRESS. 41 i exalted justice and benevolence. Who can doubt, that in the course of time and things, the fruits of such a plan would richly repay any temporary advantages which might be lost by a steady adherence to it? — Can it be that Providence has not connected the permanent fehcity of a na- tion with its virtue ? The experiment, at least, is recommended by every sentiment "■ which ennobles human nature. Alas ! is It rendered impossible by its vices ? In the execution of such a plan, nothing is more essential than that permanent, in- veterate antipathies against particular nar tions, and passionate attachments for oth- ers, should be excluded ; and that in the place of them, just and amicable feehngs towards all should be cultivated. The nation which indulges towards another an habitual hatred, or an habitual fondness, is in some degree a slave. It is a slave to its animosity or to its affection, either of which is sufficient to lead it astray from f 8 Si 42 FAREWELL ADDRESS, its duty and its interests. Antipathy in one nation against another, disposes each more readily to offer insult and injury, to lay hold of slight causes of umbrage, and to be haughty and untractable, when acci- dental or trifling occasions of dispute oc- cur. Hence, frequent collisions, obstinate, en- * venomed, and bloody contests. The na- tion, prompted by ill-will and resentment, sometimes impels to war the government, contrary to'the best calculations of policy. The government sometimes participates in the national propensity, and adopts, through passion, what reason would re- ject ; at other times it makes the animosity of the nation subservient to projects of hostility, instigated by pride, ambition, and other sinister and pernicious motives. The peace often, sometimes perhaps the liberty of nations, has been the victim. So likewise, a passionate attachment of one nation to another, produces a variety 35 3 ^^ FAREWELL ADDRESS. II of evils. Sympathy for the favourite na- tion, facihtating the illusion of imaginary common interest, in cases where no real common interest exists, and infusing into one the enmities of the other, betrays the former into a participation in the quarrels and wars of the latter, \^ithout adequate inducement or justification. It leads also to concessions to the favourite nation of privileges denied to others, which is apt doubly to injure the nation maldng the concessions, by unnecessarily parting with Avhat ought to have been retained ; and by exciting jealousy, ill-will, and a disposition to retaliate, in the parties from whom equal privileges are mthheld; and it gives to ambitious, corrupted, or deluded citizens, who devote themselves to the favourite nation, facility to betray or sacrifice the interests of their own cou^ntry, without odium, sometimes even -with popularity; gilding with the appearances of a vii-tuous sense of obligation, a commendable defer- ^•^i£Eg«CS)^i^S&3£S&filS&«l^^ 44 FAREWELL ADDRESS. ence for public opinion, or a laudable zeal for public good, the base or foolish com- pliances of ambition, corruption, or infatu- ation. As avenues to foreign influence in in- numerable ways, such attachments are particularly alarming to the truly enlight- ened and independent patriot. How many opportunities do they afford to tamper with domestic factions^ to practise the arts of seduction, to mislead public opinion, to influence or awe the public councils ! Such an attachment of a small or weak, towards a great and powerful nation, dooms the former to be the satellite of the latter. Against the insidious wiles of foreign influence, (I conjure you to believe me, fellow-citizens,) the jealousy of a free people ought to be constantly awake ; since history and experience prove that foreign influence is one of the most baneful foes of republi- can government. But that jealousy, to be useful, must be impartial ; else it becomes FAREWELL ADDRESS. the instrument of the very influence to be avoided, instead of a defence against , it. Excessive partiality foi* one foreign nation, and excessive disUke for another, cause those vi'hom they actuate to see danger only on one side, and serve to veil, and even to second the arts of influence on the othei'. Real patriots, vs^ho may resist the intrigues of the favourite, are liable to be- come suspected and odious ; Mobile its tools and dupes usurp the applause and confi- dence of the people, to surrender their in- terests. The great rule of conduct for us, in re- gard to foreign nations, is, in extending our commercial relations, to have as little political connexion as possible. So far as we have already formed engagements, let them be fulfilled vi^ith perfect good faith. Here let us stop. Europe has a set of primary interests, which to us have none, or a very remote, relation. Hence, she must be engaged in F It frequent controversies, the causes of which are essentially foreign to our concerns. Hence, therefore, it must be unwise in us to implicate ourselves, by artificial ties, in the ordinary vicissitudes of her politics, or the ordinary combinations and collisions of her friendships or enmities. Our detached and distant situation in- vites and enables us to pursue a different course. If we remain one people, under an efficient government, the period is not far off, when we may defy material injury from external annoyance; when we may take such an attitude as will cause the neutrality, we may at any time resolve upon, to be scrupulously respected ; when belligerent nations, under the impossibility of making acquisitions upon us, will not lightly hazard the giving us provocation ; when we may choose peace or war, as our interest, guided by justice, shall counsel. Why forego the advantages of so pecu- ■'^^^^^r^^^^^^^^^^R;s^^^;^f^^^^^^^>i FAREWELL ADDRESS. 47 liar a situation ? Why quit our own to stand upon foreign ground ? Why, by interweaving our destiny with that of any part of Europe, entangle our peace and prosperity in the toils of Euro- pean ambition, rivalship, interest, humour, or caprice? It is our true policy to steer clear of permanent alliances, with any portion of the foreign world ; so far, I mean, a& we are now at liberty to do it : for let me not be understood as capable of patronising infidelity to existing engagements. I hold the maxim no less applicable to pubUo than to private affairs, that honesty is al- ways the best policy. I repeat it, there- fore, let those engagements be observed in their genuine sense. But, in my opinion, it is unnecessary, and would be unwise, to extend them. Taking care always to keep ourselves, by suitable establishments, in a respectable defensive posture, we may safely trust to temporary alliances for extraordinary emer- gencies. Harmony and a liberal intercourse with all nations, are recommeivied by policy, humanity and interest. But even oux commercial policy should hold an equal and impartial hand ; neither seeking nor granting exclusive favours or preferences ; consulting the natural course of things; diflFusing and diversifying by gentle means, the streams of commerce, but forcing no- thing ; establishing, with powers so dis- posed, in order to give trade a stable course, to defend the rights of our mer- chants, and to enable the government to support them, conventional rules of inter- course, the best that circumstances and mutual opinion will permit, but temporary, and liable to be from time to time aban- doned or varied, as experience and circum- stances shall dictate ; constantly keeping in view, that it is folly in one nation to look for disinterested favours from another ; fS^ FAREWELL ADDRESS. 49 ^ that it must pay with a portion of its inde- pendence for whatever it may accept un- der that character ; that hy such accept- ance it may place itself in the condition of having given equivalents for nominal favours, and yet of being reproached with ingratitude for not giving more. There can be no greater error than to expect or calculate upon real favours from nation to nation. It is an illusion which experience must cure, which a just pride ought to discard. In offering to joxi, my countrymen, these counsels of an old and aflfectionate friend, I dare not hope they will make the strong and lasting impression I could wish; that they will control the usual current of the passions, or prevent our nation from running the course which has hitherto marked the destiny of nations. But, if I may even -flatter myself, that they may be productive of some partial benefit, some occasional good; that they 50 FAREWELL ADDRESS. may now and then recur to moderate the fary of party spirit, to warn against the mischiefs of foreign intrigue, to guard against the impostures of pretended patri- otism; this hope will be a full recompense for the solicitude for your welfare, by which they have been dictated. How far, in the discharge of my official duties, I have been guided by the princi- ples that have been here dehneated, the public records, and other evidences of my conduct, must witness to you and the world. To myself, the assurance of my own conscience is, that I have at least be- lieved myself to be guided by them. In relation to the still subsisting war in Europe, my proclamation of the 22d of April, 1793, is the index to my plan. Sanctioned by your approving voice and by that of your Representatives in both ■ Houses of Congress, the spirit of that measure has continually governed me; FAREWELL ADpRESS. 5i uninfluenced by any attempts to deter or divert me from it. After deliberate examination, with the aid of the best lights I could obtain, I was well satisfied that our country, under all the circumstances of the case, had a right to take, and was bound in duty and in in- terest, to take a neutral position. Having taken it, I determined, as far as should de- pehd upon me, to maintain it with mode- ration, perseverance, and firmness. The considerations which respect the right to hold this conduct, it is not neces- sary, on this occasion, to detail. I will only observe, that according to my under- standing of the matter, that right, so far from being denied by any of the bellige- rent powers, has been virtually admitted by all. The duty of holding a neutral conduct may be inferred, without any thing more, from the obligations which justice and humanity impose on every^ nation, in cases 3 FAREWELL ADDRESS. in which it is free to act, to maintain invi- olate the relations of peace and amity to- wards other nations. The inducements of interest for observ- ing that conduct, will best be referred to your own reflections and experience. With me, a predominant motive has been to en- deavour to gain time to our country to settle and mature its yet recent institutions, and to progress without interruption to that degree of strength and consistency, which is necessary to give it, humanly speaking, the command of its own fortunes.- Though, in reviewing the incidents of my administration, I am unconscious of intentional error, I am nevertheless too sensible of my defects not to think it pro- bable that I may have committed many errors. Whatever they may be, I fer- vently beseech the Almighty to avert or mitigate the evils to which they may tend. I shall also carry with me the hope that my country will never cease to view them ^ FAREWELL ADDRESS. 53 with indulgence ; and that after forty-five years of my life dedicated to its service, with an upright zeal, the faults of incom- petent abilities will be consigned to obliv- ion, as myself must soon be to the man- sions of rest. Relying on its kindness in this as in other things, and actuated by that fervent love towards it, which is so natural to a man, who views in it the native soil of himself and his progenitors for several generations ; I anticipate with pleasing expectation* that retreat, in which I prom- ise myself to realize, without alloy, the sweet enjoyment of partaking, in the midst of my fellow-citizens, the benign influence of good laws under a free government ; the ever favourite object of my heart, and the happy reward, as I trust, of our mutual cares, labours* and dangers. G. WASHINGTON, United States, Sept, 17th, 1796. WM(3)mM.^ zmwiFiEm^(^'S'o I)raTvxL?CJ':a(fL-avci'tn'.TJi-Liijj-v;:H'j'r Jrnm tlie ]?oj:br-.ul b \' Lieid aftex Sliuurt )^1 DECLARATION INDEPENDENCE. [In the Congress of 1776, the great ques- tion of American Liberty came first to be discussed. On the 8th of May, Mr. Adams offered a resolution., that the Colonies should adopt governments adequate to the wants of the country, and independent of Great Britain. The success of this reso- lution on the 15th was considered as deci- sive of the question of allegiance to any foreign power. On the 7th of June, Richard Henry Lee, seconded by Mr. Adams, moved in Congress the ever-mem- orable resolution of American Indepen- dence. The debate continued until the (59) DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. 10th, when the consideration of the resolu- tion was postponed until the 1st of July. The next day, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franldin, Roger Sher- man and R. R. Livingston, were appointed to prepare a draught of a Declaration of Independence. The two gentlemen first named on this Committee having been deputed a sub-Committee to draw up a Peclaration, at the desire of Mr. Adams it was prepared by Mr. Jefferson.] DECLARATION. When in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dis- solve the political bands which have con- f. nected them with another, and to assume, among the powers of the earth, the sepa- rate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature's God entitle them, a decent respect for the opinions of man- kind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separa- tion. We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal ; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain H (61) ^^^^Ti^mi^^m^Mr^m^ 62 DECLARATION OF unalienable rights ; that among these, are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. That, to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the go- verned; that, whenever any form of go- vernment becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute a new go- vernment, laying its foundation on such principles, and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness. Pruden'ce, indeed, will dictate, that go- vernments long established, should not be changed for light and transient causes ; and, accordingly, all experience hath shown, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But, when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object, evin- ^^^^^1 m i^2Q ^ INDEPENDENCE. ces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government, and to pro- vide new guards for their future security. Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies, and such is now the neces- sity which constrains them to alter their former systems of government. The his- tory of the present King of Great Britain, is a history of repeated injuries and usurp- ations, all having, in direct object, the es- tablishment of an absolute tyranny over these States. To prove this, let facts be submitted to a candid world : He has refused his assent to laws the most wholesome and necessary for the pub- lic good. He has forbidden his Governors to pass laws of immediate and pressing import- ance, unless suspended in their operation till his assent should be obtained; and, when so suspended, he has utterly neg- lected to attend to them. 64 DECLARATION OF' He has refused to pass other laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of representation in the legislature ; a right inestimable to them, and formidable to tyrants only. He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and dis- tant from the depositpry of their public re- cords, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures. He has dissolved representative houses repeatedly, for opposing, with manly firm- ness, his invasions on the rights of the people. He has refused, for a long time after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the legislative powers, incapable of annihilation, have returned to the people at large for their exercise ; the State remaining, in the mean time, exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without and convulsions within. INDEPENDENCE. 65 He has endeavoured to prevent the popu- lation of these States; for that purpose, obstructing the laws for naturalization of foreigners ; refusing to pass others to en- courage their migration hither, and raising the conditions of new appropriations of lands. He has obstructed the administration of justice, by refusing his assent to laws for establishing judiciary powers. He has made judges dependent on his will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries. He has erected a multitude of new offi- ces, and sent hither swarms of officers to harass our people, and eat out their sub- stance. He has kept among us, in time of peace, standing armies, without the consent of our legislatures. He has affected to render the military 66 DECLARATION OF independent of, and superior to, the civil power. He has combined, with others, to sub- ject us to a jurisdiction- foreign to our constitution and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his assent to their acts of pretended legislation : For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us; For protecting them, by a mock trial, from punishment, for any murders which they should commit on the inhabitants of these States; For cutting off our trade with all parts of the world ; For imposing taxes on us without our consent ; For depriving us, in many cases, of the benefits of trial by jury ; For transporting us beyond the seas to be tried for pretended offences; For abolishing the free system of Eng- lish laws in a neighbouring Province, es- ^g^>l^^^tAs52 * INDEPENDENCE. G7 tablishing therein an arbitrary government, and enlarging its boundaries, so as to ren- der it at once an example and fit instru- ment for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies; For taking away our charters, abolish- ing our most valuable laws, and altering fundamentally the forms of our govern- ments ; For suspending our own legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases what- soever. He has abdicated government here, by declaring us out of his protection, and waging war against us. He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people. He is, at this time, transporting large armies of foreign mercenaries to complete the work of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun, with circumstances of cru- 68 DECLARATION OF elty and perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the head of a civilized nation. He has constrained our fellow-citizens, taken captive on the high seas, to bear arms against their country, to become the executioners of their friends and brethren, or to fall themselves by their hand. He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the mer- ciless Indian savages, whose known rule of warfare is an undistinguished destrucr tion of all ages, sexes, and conditions. In every stage of these oppressions, we have petitioned for redress in the most humble terms. Our repeated petitions have been answered only by repeated in- jury. A prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people. Nor have we been wanting in attentions INDEPENDENCE. to our British brethren. We have warned thena, from time to time, of attempts by their legislature, to extend an unwarrant- able jurisdiction over us. We have re- minded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and mag- nanimity, and we have conjured them, by the ties of our common kindred, to disavow these usurpations, which would inevitably interrupt our connexions and correspond- ence. They, too, have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, ene- mies in war, in peace friends. We therefore, the representatives of the United States of America, in General Congress assembled, appealing to the Su- preme Judge of the World for the recti- tude of our intentions, do, in the name, and by the authority, of the good people of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, FREE AND INDEPENDENT STATES ; that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British crown, and that all political con- nexion between them and the State of Great Britain, is, and ought to be, totally dissolved ; and that, as Free and Indepen- dent States, they have full power to levy war, conclude peace, contract alliances, establish commerce, and to do all other acts and things which independent States may of right do. And, for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other, our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honour. JOHN HANCOCK, President. 72 DECLARATION OF NAMES OF THE SIGNERS MASSACHUSETTS BAY Samuel Adams, John Adams, Robert Treat Paine, Elbridge Gerry. STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. Stephen Hopkins, William Ellery. ^^^s^'^^^f-y^ ' STATE OF CONNECTICUT Roger Sherman, Samuel Huntington, William Williams, Oliver Wolcott. STATE OF NEW YORK William- Floyd, Philip Livingston, Francis Lewis, Lewis Morris. • 'j,/"'^ ;>J^.^„^^-^.^^^J.J,.^^^^.J^^^^ NAMES OF THE SIGNERS FEOM THE STATE OF PENNSYLVANIA. Robert Morris, Benjamin Rush, Benjamin Franklin, John Morton, George Clymer, James Smith, George Taylor, James Wilson, George Ross. I 4 STATE OF DELAWARE. Csesar Rodney, George Read, Thomas M'Kean. - nT7TrT-Yr>,-T.'-rCT< j g j - ^ i-?j'j-jn,-TyTr'T'^'^ ' 'T t '"f^ f^rp^j^j!,^:^^^^ INDEPENDENCE. NAMES OF THE SIGNERS STATE OF MARYLAND. Samuel Chase, William Paca, Thomas Stone, Charles Carroll, of CarroUton. U^^^:M^^:^^sm^^^^^^. STATE OF VIRGINIA ^E^ George Wythe, Richard Henry Lee, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Harrison, Thomas Nelson, Jr., Francis Lightfoot Lee, Carter Braxton. -■.,;"-''oI7?:?2S^^^XWS STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA. m William Hooper, Joseph. Hewes, John Penn. .'J lh"^^^^^W3^^^^ss^^^^^^s^s, Edward Rutledge, Thomas Heyward, Jr., Thomas Lynch, Jr., Arthur Middleton-. I^^^^^S^^^^^^^^^^S INPEPEJSDENCE. NAMES OF THE SIGNERS rnoM THE STATE OF GEOEGIA Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, George Walton. ^ i i i I § m 3i .wjswirawas^^aswssfj^j^j'^^ -;hs oTr®lSM .ya'JmJ^JIIS. l)i'i\wjiK'.l.jii-^'r:ivfil bv JJJ,I.an.'^"ari r froJii n Tnmlino-.bv Otis al'U'u iSum-t. CONSTITUTION UNITED STATES. We, the People of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, es- p tablish justice, ensure domestic tranquiUity, provide for the common defence, promote the general welfare, and secure the bless- |! ings of Liberty to ourselves and our pbs- ^i terity, do ordain and establish this Consti- tution of the United States of America : ARTICLE L— Congress. Section i. — Legislative Powers. 1. All Legislative PoAvers herein grant- fr\ shall be vested in a Congress of the m 90 CONSTITUTION United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives. Section ii. — House of Representatives. \. The House of Representatives shall be composed of members chosen every second year by the people of the several States, and the Electors in each State shall have the qualifications requisite for Electors of .the most numerous branch of the State Legislature. Qualification of Members — Apportionment. 2. No person shall be a Representative who shall not have attained to the ao-e of twenty-five years, and been seven years a citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an inhabitant of that State in which he shall be chosen. 3. Representatives and direct taxes shall be apportioned among the several States which may be included within this Union, according to their respective numl^ers. ^Djs m Sfy^ry^s^^^^^^s^S^S^^ OF THE UNITED STATES. 9! which shall be determined by adding tu the whole number of free persons, includ- ing those bound to service for a term of years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three-fifths of all other persons. The ac- tual enumeration shall be made within three years after the first meeting of the Congress of the United States, and within every subsequent term of ten years, in such manner as they shall by law direct. The number of Representatives shall not exceed one for every thirty thousand, but each State shall have at least one Repre- sentative; and tmtil such enumeration shall be made, the State of New Hamp- shire shall be entitled to choose three, Massachusetts eight, Rhode Island and Providence Plantatimis one, Con,necticut five, Nerv Yo^'k six. New Jersey four, Penn- sylvania eight, Delaware one, Maryland six, Virginia ten. North Carolina five, Soitth Carolina five, and Gem-gia three. 4. When vacancies happen in the repre- 92 LuNSTITU7fuN sentation from any State, the Executive authority thereof shall issue writs of elec- tion to fill up such vacancies. 5. The House of Representatives shall choose their Speaker and other officers, and shall have the sole power of impeach- ment. Section in. — Senate. 1. The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State, chosen by the Legislature thereof, for six years ; and each Senator shall have one vote- 2. Immediately after they shall be as- sembled in consequence of the first elec- tion, they shall be divided as equally as may be into three classes. The seats of the Senators of the first class shall be va- cated at the expiration of the second year, of the second class at the expiration of the fourth year, and of the third class at the expiration of the sixth year, so that one- *^s>?itsirfttsrr^tsrat»i^«3^^ Oi THE UNITED STATES. 93 third may be chosen every second year , and if vacancies happen by resignation, or otherwise, during the recess of the Legis- lature of any State, the Executive thereof may make temporary appointments, until the next meeting of the Legislature, which shall then fill such vacancies. 3. No person shall be a Senator who shall not have attained to the age of thirty years, and been nine years a citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an inhabitant of that State for which he shall be chosen. 4. The Vice President of the United States shall be President of the Senate, but shall have no vote unless they be equally divided. 5. The Senate shall choose their own officers, and also a President pro-tempore, in the absence of the Vice President, or when he shall exercise the office of Presi- dent of the United States. 6. The Senate shall have the sole power yrx-:fr:x,2rrX:2rricy'r:c:frir:-:fr^z-:frX-:^^^ fi 94 CONSTITUTION to try all impeachments ; when sitting for that purpose, they shall be on oath or affir- mation. When the President of the United States is tried, the Chief Justice shall pre- side; and no person shall be convicted without the concurrence of two-thirds of the members present. 7. Judgment in cases of impeachment shall not extend farther than to removal from office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any office of honour, trust or profit under the United States : but the party convicted shall nevertheless be hable and subject to indictment, trial, judgment and punishment, according to law. Section iv. — Election of Members. 1. The times, places and manner of hold- ing elections for Senators and Representa- tives, shall be prescribed in each State by the Legislature thereof; but the Congress may at any time by law make or alter such ^^cS^c2i^'^*S»*a*2)S^c*^^ X'yrX^rX-7frX-ZrrX.-yrX''yrX^'ri i bl OF THE UNITED STATES <)5 regulations, except as to the places of choosing Senators. 2. The Congress shall assenable at least once in every year, and such meeting shall be on the first Monday in December, un- less they shall by law appoint a different day. Section v. — Powers of each- House. 1. Each House shall be the judge of the elections, returns and qualifications of its own members, and a majority of each shall constitute a quorum to do business : but a smaller number may adjourn from day to day, and may be authorized to compel the attendance of absent members, in such manner, and under such penalties, as each House may provide: 2. Each House may determine the rules of its proceedings, punish its members for disorderly behaviour, and, with the con- currence of two-thirds, expel a member. 3. Each House shall keep a journal of ^Sg&JSrifeSS^jig^g^S^^^^SSf^^ I I 96 CONSTITUTION its proceedings, and from time to time publish the same, except such parts as may in their judgment require secrecy : and the yeas and nays of the members of either House on any question shall, at the desire of one fifth of those present, be en- tered on the journal. 4. Neither House, during the session of Congress, shall, without the consent of the other, adjourn for more than three days, nor to any other place than that in which the two Houses shall be sitting. Section vi. — Compensation, Privileges, SfC 1. The Senators and Representatives shall receive a compensation for their ser- vices, to be ascertained by law, and paid out of the Treasury of the United States. They shall in all cases, except treason, felony and breach of the peace, be privi- leged from arrest during their attendance at the session of their respective Houses, and in going to and returning from the I « 'w'ci^wx^a.w'xi:^w'c^w4:i" OF THE UNITED STATES. 97 same; and for any speech or debate in either House, they shall not be questioned in any other place. 2. No Senator or Representative shall, during the time for which he was elected, be appointed to any civil office under the authority of the United States, which shall have been created or the emoluments whereof shall have been increased during such time; and no person holding any office under the United States shall be a member of either House during his con tinuance in office. Section vii. — Bilk and Resolutions, dfC. 1. All bills for raising revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives : but the Senate may propose, or concur with amendments, as on other biUs. 2. Every bill which shall have passed the House of Representatives and the Sen- ate, shall, before it becomes a law, be pre- sented to the President of the United |i^5ES^fE3rw^i^sat^r>t^^t^^ 8 S 98 CONSTITUTION States ; if he approve he shall sign it, but if not, he shall return it, with his objec- tions, to that House in which it shall have originated, who shall enter the objections at large on their journal, and proceed to reconsider it. If, after such reconsidera- tion, two-thirds of that House should agree to pass the bill, it shall be sent, together with the objections, to the other House^ by which it shall likewise be reconsidered, and if approved by two-thirds of that House, it shall become a law. ■ But in all such cases, the votes of both Houses shall be determined by yeas and nays, and the names of the persons voting for and against the bill shall be entered on the journal of each House respectively. If any bill shall not be returned by the President within ten days (Sundays excepted) after it shall have been presented to him, the same shaU be a law, in like manner as if he had signed" it, unless the Congress by their ad^ m^m^^^^^^^^^^w3w^:^w^^m OF THE UNITED STATES. 99 journment prevent its return, in which case it shall not be a law. 3. Every order, resolution or vote, to which the concurrence of the Senate and House of Representatives may be neces- sary, (except a question of adjournment,) shall be presented to the President of the United States ; and before the same shall take effect, shall be approved by him, or being disapproved by him, shall be re- passed by two-thirds of the Senate and House of Representatives, according to the rules and limitations prescribed in the case of a bill. Section viii. — Powers of Congress. 1 . The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts and ex- cises, to pay the debts and provide for the common defence and general welfare of the United States : but aU duties, imposts and excises, shall be uniform throughout the United States. WMism&tS^^ss&isas^mM 1^^^ jg^0^M^^^^^!r^3rti!^M'^S3rc:mf^ 100 CONSTITUTION 2. To borrow money on the credit of the United States: 3. To regulate commerce with foreign nations and among the several States, and with the Indian tribes : 4. To establish a uniform rule of natu- ralization, and uniform laws on the subject of bankruptcies throughoiit the United States : 5. To coin money, regulate the value thereof, and of foreign coin, and fix the standard of weights and measures : 6. To provide for the punishment of counterfeiting the securities and current coin of the United States : 7. To establish post-offices and post roads : 8. To promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclu- sive right to their respective writings and discoveries : 9. To constitute tribunals inferior to the Supreme Court : 10. To define and punish piracies and felonies committed on the high seas, and offences against the law of nations : 11. To declare war, grant letters of marque and reprisal, and make rules con- cerning captures on land and water ; 12. To raise and support armies, but no appropriation of money to that use shall be for a lorn^^er term than two years : 13. To provide and maintain a navy : 14. To make rules for the government and regulation of the land and naval forces : 15. To provide for calling forth the militia to execute the laws of the Union, suppress insurrections and repel invasions : 16. To provide for organizing, arming and disciplining the militia, and for gov- erning such part of them as may be em- ployed in the service of the United States, reserving to the States respectively, the appointment of the officers and the au- M 102 CONSTITUTION thority of training the militia according to the disciphne prescribed by Congress : ■17. To exercise exclusive legislation in all cases whatsoever, over such district (not exceeding ten miles square) as may, by cession of particular states, and the ac- ceptance by^ -Congress, become the seat of the government of the United States, and to exercise like authority over all places purchased by the consent of the legislature of the state in which the same shall be, for the erection of forts, magazines, arsenals, dock-yards, and other needful buildings : And, 18. To make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers, and all powers vested by this Constitution in the government of the United States, or in any department or officer thereof Section ix. — ProkiUtions and Privileges. 1. The migration or importation of such msm^^m^Simmmmi&sm^m^ ■mwmm'm?f^rm^m5rf^rcmri?i OF THE UNITED STATES. 103 persons as any of the States now existing shall think proper to admit, shall not be prohibited by the Congress prior to the year one thousand eight hundred and [^ eight, but a tax or duty may be imposed on such importation, not exceeding ten dollars for each person. 2. The privilege of the writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in cases of rebelhon or invasion the public safety may require it. 3. No bill of attainder or ex post facto law shall be passed. 4. No capitation, or other direct tax shall be laid, unless in proportion to the census or enumeration herein before directed to be taken. 5. No tax or duty shall be laid on arti- cles exported from any State. 6. No preference shall be given by any regulation of commerce or revenue to the ports of one State over those of another ; nor shall vessels bound to, or from, one ^^^^^^^^^^^^M i04 CONSTITUTION State, be obliged to enter, clear, or pay- duties in another. 7. No money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in consequence of appropri- ations made by law ; and a regular state- ment and account of the receipts and ex- penditures of all public money shall be published from time to time. 8. No-tjtle of nobility shall be granted by the United States ; and no person hold- ing any oflB.ce of profit or trust under them, shall, without theconsent of the Congress, accept of any present, emolument, ofl&ce, or title of any kind whatever, from any king, prince, or foreign state. Section x. — State Restrictions, 6fC. 1. No State shall enter into any treaty, alliance or confederation ; grant letters of marque and reprisal; coin money; emit bills of credit ; make any thing but gold and silver coin a tender in payment of debts ; pass aiiy bill of attainder, ex post 'i!^3ri;'^^C!^^;^g^sri^fif^: OF THE UNITED STATES. 105 facto law, or law impairing tlie obligation of contracts, or grant any title of nobility. 2. No State shall, without the consent of the Congress, lay any imposts or duties on imports or exports, except what may be absolutely necessary for executing its inspection laws ; and the nett produce of all duties and imposts, laid by any State on imports or exports, shall be for the use of the Treasury of the United States ; and all such laws shall be subject to the revision and control of the Congress. 3. No State shall, without the consent of Congress, lay any duty on tonnage, keep troops, or ships of war in time of peace, enter into any agreement or com- pact with another State, or with a foreign power, or engage in war, unless actually invaded, or in such imminent danger as will not admit of delay. 'CO-^cy-^jQ^P. i f I I I 106 CONSTITUTION ARTICLE IL— President. Section i. — Election for President. 1. The Executive power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America. He shall hold his oflB.ce during the term of four years, and, together with the Vice President, chosen for the same term, be elected as follows : 2. Each State shall appoint, in such manner as the Legislature thereof may di- rect, a number of Electors, equal to the whole number of Senators and Represent- atives to which the State may be entitled in the Congress ; but no Senator or Repre- sentative,, or person holding an ofl&ce of trust or profit under the United States, shall be appointed an Elector. 3. The Electors shall meet in their re- spective States and vote by ballot for the President and Vice President, one of whom, at least, shall not be an inhabitant of the same State with themselves : they shall iMmf^s&^.^M '^SS^^^^ OF THE UNITED STATES. 107 name in their ballots the person voted for as President, and in distinct ballots the person voted for as Vice President, and they shall make distinct lists of all persons voted for as President, and of all persons voted for as Vice President, and of the number of votes for each, w^hich lists they shall sign and certify, and transmit, sealed, to the seat of the government of the United States, directed to the President of the Senate ; the President of the Senate shall, in the presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open all the certificates, and the votes shall then be counted. The person having the greatest number of votes for President, shall be the President, if such, number be a majority of the whole number of Electors appointed; and if no person have such majority, then from the persons having the highest numbers, not exceeding three, on the list of those voted for as President, the Plouse of Representa- tives shall choose immediately, by ballot, 108 CONSTITUTION the President. But in clioosing the Presi- dent, the votes shall be taken by States, the representation from each Stat^ having one vote ; a quorum for this purpose shall consist of a member or members from two- thirds of the States, and a majority of all the States shall be necessary to a choice. And if the House of Representatives shall not choose a President whenever the right of choice shall devolve upon them, before the fourth day of March next following, then the Vice President shall act as Presi- dent, as in case of the death or other con- stitutional disability of the President. 4. The person having the greatest num- ber of votes as Vice President, shall be the Vice President : if such number be a ma- jority of the whole number of Electors appointed, and if no person have a majority, then from the two highest numbers on the list, the Senate shall choose the Vice Pre- si'dent; a quorum for that purpose shall consist of two-thirds of the whole number OF THE UNITED STATES. 109 of Senators, and a majority of the whole number shall be necessary to a choice. 5. But no person constitutionally ineli- gible to the office of President, shall be eligible to that of Vice President. 6v The Congress may determine the time of choosing the Electors, and the day on which they shall give their votes, which day shall be the same throughout the United States. 7. No person, except a natural-born citi- zen, or a citizen of the United States at the time of the adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the office of President ; neither shall any person be eligible to that office who shall not have attained to the age of thirty-five years, and been fourteen years a resident within the United States. 8. In case of removal of the President from office, or of his death, resignation, or inability to discharge the powers and du- ties of the said office, the same shall de- volve on the Vice President, and the Con- gress may by law provide for the case of removal, death, resignation or inability both of the President and Vice President, declaring vi^hat ofl&cer shall then act as President, and such officer shall act ac- cordingly, until the disability be removed, or a President shall be elected. 9. The President shall, at stated times, receive for his services a compensation, which shall neither be increased nor di- minished during the period for which he shall have been elected, and he shall not receive within that period any other emol- ument from the United States or any of them. 10. Before he enters on the execution of his office, he shall take the following oath or affirmation: " I do solemnly swear, (or affirm,) that I will faithfully execute the office of Presi- dent of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and ^m^^^^m^^^^^^^^^^^^i ^^^ OF THE UNITED STATES. defend the Constitution of the United States." Section ii. — Powers of the President. 1. The President shall be commander- in-chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the militia of the several States, vs^hen called into the actual service of the United States ; he may re- quire the opinion, in writing, of the prin- cipal officer in each of the Executive de- partments, upon any subject relating to the duties of their respective offices, and he shall have power to grant reprieves and pardons for offences against the United States, except in cases of impeachment. 2. He shall have power, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, to make treaties, provided two-thirds of the Senators present concur; and he shall nominate, and by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, shall appoint am- bassadors, other public ministers and con- m^^^^m^^^^. ^a;^52^iie4&ic^ ^!^T;mrf3i^^^mrf^:^^Mrf!!s;»n il2 CONSTITUTION suls, Judges of the Supreme Court, and all other officers of the United States, whose appomtments are not herein other- wise-provided for, and which shall be es- tablished by law. But the Congress may by law vest the appcftntment of such in- ferior oflS-cers as they think proper in the President alone, in the courts of law, or in the heads of departments, 3. The President shall have power to fill up all vacancies that may happen dur- ing the recess of the Senate, by granting commissions, which shall expire at the end of their next session. Section hi. — Duties of the President, 1. He shall, from time to time, give to Congress information of the state of the Union, and recommend to their considera- tion such measures as he shall judge ne- cessary and expedient ; he may, on extra- ordinary occasions, convene both Houses, or either of them, and, in case of disagree- m^M^^m'^mm^m^^;^^^^ S^^S£^ OF THE UNITED STATES. 113 ment between them, with respect to the time of adjournment, he may adjourn them to such time as he shall think proper ; he shall receive ambassadors and other public ministers ; he shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed, and shall commis- sion all the officers of the- United States. Section iv. — Impeachment of Oncers. 1. The President, Vice President, and all civil officers of the United States, shall be removed from office on impeachment for, and conviction of, treason, bribery, or other high crimes a^nd misdemeanors. ARTICLE III.— Judiciary. Section I. — Courts — Judges. 1. The Judicial power of the United States shall be vested in one Supreme Court, and in such inferior courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and estab- lish. The Judges, both of the Supreme ^nd inferior courts, shall hold their offices 'i ^^^^^^&^!^^3^€^B^i&i^^!m 'W M #?Y^^^S^^P^K^P^gSgS i [h 1 1-1 CONSTITUTlOit during good behaviour, and shall, at stated^ times, receive for their services, a compen- sation which shall not be diminished dur- ing their continuance in office. Section ii. — Judicial Powers — Civil — Cri- minal 1. The judicial power shall extend to all cases in law and eqiiity, arising under this Constitution, the laws of the United States, and the treaties made, or which shall be naade under their authority ; to all cases affecting ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls ; to all cases of ad- miralty and maritime jurisdiction ; to con- troversies to which the United States shall be a party ; to controversies between two or more States — ^between a State and citi- zens of another State — ^between citizens of different States — between citizens of the same State claiming lands under grants of different States — and between a State, or 1^ m^sm^^ms'^m^^m^Mf'rxsrcr OF THE UNITED STATES. 115 the citizens thereof, and foreign States, citizens or subjects. 2. In all cases affecting ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls, and those in -vvhich a State shall be a party, the Supreme Court shall have original juris- diction. In all the other cases before mentioned, the Supreme Court shall have appellate jurisdiction, both as to law and fact, with such exceptions, and under such regulations, as the Congress shall make. 3. The trial of all crimes, except in cases of impeachment, shall be by jury ; and such trial shall be held in the State where the said crimes shall have been committed ; but when not committed within any State, the trial shall be at such place or places as the Congress may by law have directed. Section hi. — Treason. 1. Treason against the United States, shall consist only in lev_ying war against them, or in adhering to their enemies, giv- IS I i i. I i i I IS '^s^^^^^^^^^^^s^m^^^mM rs&y'iG7frit:yrX:yrX-^r^7frX:yrX:9rX^n 116 CONSTITUTION ing them aid and comfort. No person shall be convicted of treason unless on the testimony of two witnesses to the same overt act, or on confession in open court. 2. The Congress shall have power to declare the punishment of treason, but no attainder of treason shall work corruption of blood, or forfeiture, except during the life of the person attainted. ARTICLE IV.— State Rights. Section i. — Restitution and Privileges. 1. Full faith and credit shall be given in each State to the public acts, records, and judicial proceedings of every other State. And the Congress may by general laws prescribe the manner in which siich acts, records and proceedings shall be proved, and the effect thereof Section ii. — Privilege of Citizens. 1. The citizens of each State shall be ^^S^E^S^^^g^^^^^^S^g^ 8 OF THE UNITED STATES. 117 entitled to all privileges and immunities of citizens in the several States. 2. A person charged in any State with treason, felony, or other crime, v^ho shall flee from justice, and be found in another State, shall, on demand of the Executive authority of the State from vv^hich he fled, be delivered up, to be removed to the State having jurisdiction of the crime. 3. No person held to service or labour in one State, under the laws thereof, es- caping into another, shall, in consequence of any law or regulation therein, be dis- charged from such service or labour, but shall be delivered up on claim of the party to whom such . service or labour may be due. Section iih-^NefV States. 1. New States may be admitted by the Congress into this Union; but no new State shall be formed or erected within the jurisdiction of any other State ; nor any o 'S^^^^^^^^^B^^m^^^^M ftl£ar:tSrri^fiiS^^ 118 CONSTITUTION State be formed by the junction of two or more States, or parts of States, without the consent of the Legislatures of the States concerned, as well as of the Congress. 2. The Congress shall have power to dispose of and make all needful rules and regulations respecting the territory or other property belonging to the United States ; and nothing in this Constitution shall be so construed as to prejudice any claims of the United States, or of any particular State. Section iv. — State Govertiments, Repub- lican. 1. The United States shall guaranty to every State in this Union a republican form of government, and shall protect each of them against invasion ; and on applica- tion of the Legislature, or of the Executive, (when the Legislature cannot be con- vened,) against domestic violence. ^i1^c-;mf'^mr^mrt!X^r:XSrri^r.^^r. OF THE UNITED STATES. 119 ARTICLE v.— Amendments. 1. The Congress, whenever two-thirds of both Houses shall deem it necessary, shall propose amendments to this Constitu- tion, or, on the application of the Legisla- tures of two-thirds of the several States, shall call a Convention for proposing amendments, which in either case, shall be valid to all intents and purposes, as part of this Constitution, when ratified by the Legislatures of three-fourths of the several States, or by Conventions in three-fourths thereof, as the one or the other mode of ratification may be proposed by the Con- gross ; provided that no amendment which may be made prior to the year one thou- sand eight hundred and eight shall in any manner affect the first and fourth clauses in the ninth section of the first article ; and that no State, vnthout its consent, shall be deprived of its equal suffrage in the Senate, f^^BSSS^^^^^^^^-^. 120 CONSTITUTION ARTICLE VI.— Debts. 1 . AH debts contracted aud engagements entered into, before the adoption of this Constitution, shall be as valid against the United States under this Constitution, as under the confederation. 2. This Constitution, and the laws of the United States which shall be made in pursuance thereof j and all treaties made, or which shall be made, under the author- ity of the United States, shall be the su- preme law of the land ; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any- thing in the constitution or laws of any State to the contrary notwithstanding. 3. The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the members of the several State Legislatures, and all execu- tive and judicial officers, both of the United States and of the several States, shall be bound by oath or affirmation, to support this Constitution; but no religious test .SSJ!>LiShi!»ii9Si iry*5^s*s<^ifi<»w!?sssrj^ OF THE UNITED STATES. 121 shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States. ARTICLE VII.— Ratification. 1. The ratification of the conventions of nine States, shall be sufficient for the es- tablishment of this Constitution between the States so ratifying the same. Done in Convention, by, the unanimous consent of the States present, the seventeenth day of September, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and eighty-seven, aiid of the Independence of the United States of America, the Tvi^elfth. In M^itness whereof, we have hereunto subscribed our names. GEORGE WASHINGTON, President, and Deputy from Virginia. S^3S5^SW3!^ ^m^mii^^^^^m Articles in addition to, and amendment of, the Constitution of the United States of America, proposed hy Congress, and ratified hy the Legislatures of the sev- eral States, pursuant to the Fifth Ar- ticle of the original Constitution. ARTICLE I. Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof: or abridging- the ' DO freedom of speech, or of the press ; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, || and, to petition the government for a re- dress of grievances. (122) ■iim^swiimf';miimfimrimfss;r^^sm CONSTITUTION 123 ARTICLE II. A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed. re ARTICLE III. No soldier shall, in time of peace, be quartered in any house without the consent of the owner, nor in time of war but in a manner to be prescribed by law. ARTICLE IV. The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated; and no warrants shall issue but upon probable cause, sup- ported by oath or affirmation, and particu- larly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized. '^£ nCyritrD'nC-iyn 124 CONSTITUTION ARTICLE V. No person shall be held to answer for a capital or otherwise infamous crime, unless *on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia when in ac- tual service, in time of war or public dan- ger ; nor shall any person be subject, for the same offence, to be twice put in jeo- pardy of life or limb ; nor shall he be com- pelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself; nor be deprived of life, liberty or property, without due process of law, nor shall private property be taken for pubHc use without just compensation- ARTICLE VI. In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and pub- lic trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have OF THE UNITED STATES. IWj been previously ascertained by law ; and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation ; to be confronted with the witnesses against him ; to have compulsory, process for obtaining witnesses in his fa- vour ; and to have the assistance of counsel for his defence. ARTICLE VII. in suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved : and no fact tried by a jury shall be other- vnse re-examined in any court of the Uni- ted States, than according to the rules of the common law. ARTICLE VIII. Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and un- usual punishments inflicted. V 126 CONSTITUTION ARTICLE IX. The enumeration in the Constitution of certain rights shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people. ARTICLE X. The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people. ARTICLE XI. The judicial power of the United States shall not be construed to extend to any suit in law or equity commenced or prosecuted against one of the United States, by citi- zens of another State, or by citizens or subjects of any foreign state. ARTICLE XII. The Electors shall meet in their re- spective States, and vote by ballot for Pre- sident and Vice President, one of whom, Mm^^^s^m^s^^^^^^s^^m 4 at least, shall not be an inhabitant of the same State with themselves : they shall name in their ballots the person voted for as President, and in distinct ballots the person voted for as Vice President, and they shall make distinct lists of all persons voted for as President, and of all persons voted for as Vice President, and of the nnmber of votes for each, which lists they shall sign and certify, and transmit, sealed, to the seat of government of the United States, directed to the President of the Senate ; the President of the Senate shall, in the presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open all the certificates, and the votes shall then be counted. The person having the greatest number of votes for President, shall be the President, if such number be a majority of the whole ntimber of Electors appointed ; and if no person have such majority, then from the persons having the highest numbers, not exceeding three, on the list of those voted mm-w^isms^ ^^^^^m. for as President, the House of Representa- tives shall choose immediately, by ballot, the President. But in choosing the Presi- dent, the votes shall be taken by StMes, the representation from each State having one vote ; a quorum for this purpose shall consist of a member or members from two- thirds of the States, and a majority of all the States shall be necessary to a choice. And if the House of Representatives shall not choose a President vs^henever the right of choice shall devolve upon them, before the fourth day of March next following, then the Vice President shall act as Presi- dent, as in case of the death or other con^ stitutional disability of the President. The person having the greatest num- ber of votes as Vice President, shall be the Vice President : if such number be a ma- jority of the whole number of Electors appointed, and if no person have a majority, then from the two highest numbers on the list, the Senate shall choose the Vice Pre^ ■^^^^F^^^^^^^^^g^^^ s*j«ir^i?:?r?it;irj*s^ OF THE UNITED IBTATES. 129 sident; a quorum for the purpose shall consist of two-thirds of the whole number of Senators, and a majority of the whole number shall be necessary to a choice. But no person constitutionally ineli- gible to the office of President, shall be eligible to that of Vice President of the United States. S^H^H^SS ~' ' jSi^tfeijA^jii.l ' - '^m^i!^i!mMWm:% ■•': J '3^f7T^-:- ]ia2Tir.a2«M ^fiulstisiliMc 'lagnr rdji,- .; Ji'l,, ,nj;',iiiT, I'inin ,i I 'ai 1 1 ll'il u' h\' .Manin. t^ ^2i;a£Sia^£MX^iSjISfl^ EDITOR'S PEEFACE. The following article was issued by the Native American Delegates, who met in Convention in Philadelphia, July 4, 1845. These citizens were charged with the task of stating the dangers which threaten our public welfare, and of suggesting a remedy for the same. How far they have fulfilled the first part of their high trust, the reader may judge — the latter portion can be de- termined by posterity alone. (135) W ^^^^^^^^^^ B^^^^^^^^^^M p: -. % .'J Fellow-Citizens : When, in the history of nations, great and increasing evils arise, and invade the rights or threaten to destroy the just and natural privileges of a people, it be- comes equally the duty and the interest of that people to present to the world such representation of their grievances as shall tend to justify their efforts to remove those evils, and establish permanent means to prevent their recurrence. It has been the fate of all nations, and especially of Re- pubHcs, to suffer in various wajs from the encroachments and assumptions of a for- Q (137) eign people ; and it is an unerring truth of history, that most of them have lost their liberty and power by such means. The peculiar institutions of the United States have exposed them, more than any other, to the evils and wrongs of foreign ^ncroach- toent, and experience has already shown that they, hke most other people of histor- ical notice, are now realizing like conse- quences from like causes. Influenced by these considerations, a large portion of the native citizens of the United States have felt it to be their most solemn and impera/- tive duty to associate and pledge them- selves one to another, for the purpose of awakening their countrymen to a sense of the evils already experienced from foreign intrusion and usurpation, and the imminent danger to which all they love and venerate as native Americans is momentarily ex- posed from foreign influence ; and also to use all honourable means to diminish those evils, and oppose barriers to their future 3 3 3 5?5^ THE NATIONAL CONVENTION. 139 progress. They have, therefore, " called together in convention, in the city of Phil- adelphia, the representatives of those Na- tive Americans who, clearly seeing and feeling tlie evils and dangers complained of, have the moral courage to oppose and redress them ; and now, in conformity with usage and duty, these representatives an- nounce to their associates and their feUow- citizens, the great objects contemplated by the Native American party, their reasons for action, and the principles by which they propose hereafter to be governed. : ;' r^f:r^jrr)'V' DECLAEATION. We, the Delegates elect to the first Na- tional Conyention of the Native American body of the United States of America, as- sembled at Pliiladelphia on the 4th day of July, 1845, for the ptirpose of devising a plan of concerted political action in defence of American institutions against the en- croachments of foreign influence, open or concealed, hereby, solemnly, and before Almighty God, make lalO"^'^^l to our fellovf- citizens, our country, and the World, the follomng incoutrovertible facts, and the cotirse of conduct consequent thereon, to which, in duty to the cause of human (140) »rs(mi6trrjcm^;!(^rj:^:^.^(^r:^r^ THE NATIONAL CONVENTION, 141 rights and the claims of our beloved coun- try, we mutually pledge our lives, our for- tunes, and our sacred honour. The danger of foreign influence, threatr ening the gradual destruction of our na^ tional institutions, failed not to arrest the attention of the Father of his Country in the very dawn of American Liberty. Not only its direct agency in rendering the American system Uable to the poisonous influence of European pohcy — a policy at war with the fundamental principles of the American Constitution — ^but also its still more fatal operation in aggravating the virulence of partizan warfare within our own borders — lias awakened deep alarm in the mind of every intelligent patriot, from the days of Washington to the present time. The influx of a foreign population, per- mitted, after Uttle more than a nominal re- sidence, to participate in the legislation of the country and the sacred right of sufiirage, 142 ADDRESS OF i produced comparatively little evil during the earlier years of the Republic ; for that influx vi^as then limited by the considerable expenses of a transatlantic voyage, by the existence of many wholesome restraints upon the acquisition of political preroga- tives, by the constant exhaustion of the European population in long and bloody continental wars, and by the slender in- ducements offered for emigration to a young and sparsely peopled country, con- tending for existence with a boundless wil- derness, inhabited by savage men. EvUs which are only prospective, rarely attract the notice of the masses ; arid, until changes in the political condition of Europe — ^the increased facilities for transportation, and the madness of partizan legislation in re- moving all effective guards against the open prostitution of the right of citizenship — had converted the slender current of naturalization into a torrent, threatenino- to overwhelm the influence of the natives of .c»;c^co-c.ywe5iUic.!XwO-.c5P<^ak>' ^^mM ^- g^^^g^e^^a^^^^S^^JS^gE^^E^^ THE NATIONAL CONTENTION. 143 the land — the far-seeing vision of the statesman, only, was fixed upon the dis- tant, but steadily approaching cloud. But, since the barriers against the im- proper extension of the right of suffrage were bodily broken down, for a partizan purpose, by the congress of 1825, the ra- pidly increasing numbers and unblushing insolence of the foreign population of the worst class has caused the general agita- tion of the question, " Horv shall the insti- tutions of the comitry he preserved frorix the blight of foreign influence, insanely legal- ized through the conflicts of domestic par- ties V Associations under different names have been formed by our fellow-citizens, in many states of this confederation, from Louisiana to Maine, all designed to check this imminent danger before it becomes irremediable ; and, at length, a national con- vention of the great American people, born upon the soil of Washington, has assembled to digest and announce a plan of operations, m ^£M^^&^ss^e:^^ ^sei 144 ADDRESS OF by which the grievances of ah abused hospitaUty, and the consequent de jrada tion of poHtical niorals may be redressed, and the tottering columns of the temple of Re- publican Liberty, secured upon the sure foundation of an enUghtened nationality. In calling for support upon every Ame- rican who loves his country, and every adopted citizen of moral and intellectual worth, who would secure to his com- patriots . yet to come among us, the bless- ings of political protection, the safety of person and property, it is right that we should make known the grievances which we propose to redress, and the manner in which we shall endeavour to effect our object. It is an incontrovertible truth, that the civil institutions of the United States of America, have been seriously affected, and^ that they now stand in imminent peril from the rapid and enormous increase of the body of residents of foreign birth, em- s€SKta*3rcs€3K^i^5*Jw«s THE NATIONAL CONVENTION. 145 bued with foreign feelings, and of an igno- rant and immoral character, who receive, ■under the present lax and -unreasonable laws of naturalization, the elective fran- chise and the right of eligibility to political office. The body of foreign citizens, invited to OTir shores under a constitutional provision adapted to other times and other poHtical conditions of the world, and of this country especially, has been endowed by American hospitality, vnth gratuitous privileges un- necessary to the enjoyment of those in- alienable rights of man — life, liberty, and the pursuit ofhappiness ; — privileges wisely reserved to the natives of the soil, by the governments of all other civilized nations. But, familiarized by habit with the exercise of these indulgencies, and emboldened by increasing numbers, a vast majority of those who constitute this foreign body, now claim as an original right, that which has been so incautiously granted as a R to'l ^^g ,«v^^Sqpl^«^p^rqol 146 ADDRESS OF favour ; thus attempting to render inevi- table the prospective action of laws adopted upon a principle of mere expediency, made variable at the will of congress by the ex- press terms of 'the constitution, and here- tofore repeatedly revised to meet the exi- gencies of the times. In former years, this body was recruited chiefly from the victims of political op- pression, or the active and intelligent mer- cantile adventurers of other lands ; and it then constituted a slender representation of the best classes of the foreign popula- tion, well fitted to add strength to the state, and capable of being readily educated in the peculiarly American science of politi- cal self-government. Moreover, while wel- coming the stranger of every condition, our laws then wisely demanded of every foreign aspirant for political rights a cer- tificate of practical good citizenship. Such a class of aliens were followed by no foreign demagogues — they were courted by no ^mmmm^^^^^Mm. fSJ§^3S5^^*S?2^'5 THE NATIONAL CONVENTION. 147 domestic demagogues — they were pur- chased by no parties — ^they were debauched by no emissaries of kings. A wall of fire separated them from such a baneful influ- ence, erected by their intelligence, their knowledge, their virtue and love of free- dom. But for the last twenty years, the road to civil preferment and participation in the legislative and executive govern- ment of the land has been laid broadly open, alike to the ignorant, the vicious and the criminal; and a large proportion of the foreign body of citizens and voters now constitutes a representation of the worst and most degraded of the European popu- lation — victims of social oppression or per- sonal vices, utterly divested by ignorance or crime, of the moral and intellectufil re- quisites for political self-government. Thus tempted by the suicidal policy of these United States, and favoured by the facilities resulting from the modern im- provements of navigation, numerous soci- ij ^ ^^^wm^&m^ ADDRESS OF eties and corporate bodies in foreign coun- tries have found it economical to transport to our shores at public and private expense, the feeble, the imbecile, the idle and in- tractable, thus relieving the burdens re- sulting from the vices of the European social systems, by availing themsplves of the generous errors of our own. The almshouses of Europe are emptied on our coast, — mid tlvis by our own invi- tation — ^not casually, or to a trivial extent, but systematically, and upon a constantly increasing scale. ,The bedlams of the old world have contributed their share to the torrent of immigration, and the lives of our citizens have been attempted in the streets of our capital cities by madmen, just hberated from European hospitals upon the express condition that they should be transported to America. By the orders of European governments, the punishment of crimes has been commuted for banish- ment to the land of the free ; and crimi- ^^^^s^^^^m^s^^^^ ,,,^?itsrr;«^atjr3!r*irnt;ir,'*,wot^^^ THE NATIONAL CONVENTION. 149 nals in irons have crossed the ocean to be cast loose "upon society on their arrival. The United States are rapidly becoming the lazar-house and penal colony of Eu- rope: — nor can we reasonably censure such proceedings: — they are legitimate consequences of our own unlimited bene- volence; and it is of such material that we profess to manufacture free and en- lightened citizens', by a process occupying five short years of time — a process often practically completed within a much shorter period by evasion of the law. The mass of foreign voters, formerly lost among the natives of the soil, has increased from the ratio of one in forty to that of one in seven ! A lilt e advance in fifteen years will leave the native citizens a minority in their own land ! Thirty yea.rs ago these strangers came by units and by tens — ^now they swarm by thousands.* Formerly, * It is estimated that 300,000 will arrive, within the present year. mm^m^^i^'-^c^'^em^m^ w. 150 ADDRESS OF most of them sought only for an honest livehhood and a provision for "their fami- lies ; and rarely meddled with those insti- tutions of which it was impossible that they could comprehend the nature ; — now each new comer seeks p6litical preferment, and struggles to fasten on the public purse, with an avidity, in strict proportion to his ignorance and un worthiness of public trust — ^having been sent for the purpose of ob- taining political ascendancy in the govern- ment of the nation — ^having been sent to exalt their allies to power — having been SENT to work a revolution from republican freedom to the *' divine right" of monarchs. From these unhappy circumstances, has arisen an Imperium in Imperio — a body uninformed and vicious — ^foreign in feeling, prejudice, and manner, yet armed with a vast, and often a controlling influence over the policy of a nation whose benevolence it abuses, and whose kindness it habitually insults ; — a body as dangerous to the rights THE NATIONAL CONVENTION. 151 f of the intelligent foreigner, and to the pros- pect of its own immediate progeny, as it is threatening to the liberties of the country, and the hopes of national freedom through- out the world ; a body ever ready to com- plicate our foreign relations by embroiling us vpith the hereditary hates and feuds of other lands, and to disturb our domestic peace by its crude ideas, mistaking license for liberty, and the overthrow of individual rights for republican political equality : — a body ever the ready tool of foreign and domestic demagogues, and steadily endea- vouring by misrule to establish popular tyranny under a cloak of false democracy. Americans, false to their country, and led on to moral crime by the desire of dishonest gain, have scattered their agents over Eu- rope, inducing the malcontent and the un- thrifty to exchange a life of compulsory labour in foreign lands, for relative comfort, to be maintained by the tax-paying indus- try of our overburdened and deeply in- 3 1^" msmimmi&mmiss^m& est|3e^tar«jiissr< 153 ADDRESS OF debted community. Not content with the usual, and less objectionable licenses of trade, these fraudulent dealers habitually deceive a worthier class of victims, by false promises of employment, and assist in thronging the already crowded avenues of simple labour with a host of competitors, whose first acquaintance with American faith springs from a gross imposture, and whose first feeling, on discovering the cheat, is reasonable mistrust, if not impla- cable revenge. The importation of the physical necessities of life is burdened with duties which many deem extravagant ; but the imiportation of vice and idleness — - of seditious citizens and factious rulers — ^is not only unrestricted by anything beyond a nominal tax, but is actually encouraged by a system which transforms the great patrimony of the" nation, purchased by the blood of our fathers, into a source of bounty for the promotion of immigration. Whenever an attempt is made to restrain L2^iU2i THE NATIONAL CONVENTION. 153 this fatal evil, the domestic and adopted demagogues protest against an effort which threatens to deprive them of their most im- portant tools ; and such is the existing or- ganization of our established political par- ties, that should either of them essay the reform of an abuse which both acknowledge to be fraught with ruin, that party sinks, upoa the instant, into a minority, divested of control and incapable of result. From such causes has been derived a body, armed with political power, in a country of whose system it is ignorant, and in whose institutions it feels little in- terest except for the purpose of personal advancement. This body has fofmdd and encouraged associations under foreign names, to pro- mote measures of foreign policy and to perpetuate foreign clannishness among . adopted citizens of the United States ; — in contravention of that spirit of union and nationality without which no people can ^i««^^^*3^^wife:pr#sp 154 ADDRESS OF legitimately claim a place among the na- tions of the earth. It has employed the power of association to embroil the people of this conntry in the political disputes of other lands, with which the United States are anxious to encourage peace and amity. It has introduced foreign emblems, not only of national, but of partizan character, in the ciAdc processions and public displays of bodies of men, claiming the title of American citizens, and sworn to American fealty; by which means it has fomented frequent riot and occasional murder. It has adopted national costumes and national insignia foreign to the country, in arming and equipping military corps con- stituting part of the national guard, with its word of command in a foreign language, in open defiance of our military code ; by which means it has weakened the disci- pline of the militia, and rendered it less available for defence in time of war. ijjg^gP^^^^^^^^^^f^^^^ THE NATIONAL CONVENTION. It has entered into the strife of parties as a separate organization, unknown to the laws, suffering itself to be addressed and led to the contest — not as a portion of the great American family of freemen, hut as a combination of Irishmen, Germans, Frenchmen, or collectively as foreigners ; thus virtually falsifying its oaths of allegi- ance, and proving, beyond denial, its entire unfitness for political trust. It has formed and encouraged poUtical combinations, holding the balance of power between opposing parties ; which combina- tions have offered their votes and influence to the highest bidder, in exchange for pledges of oflB.cial position and patronage. It has boasted of giving Governors to our states, and chief magistrates to the nation. By serving as an unquestioning and un- compromising tool of executive power, it has favoured a political centralism hostile !KC»5:'.f ^^:^^h.££&A 156 ADDRESS OF to the rights of the independent states, ani the sovereignty of the people. It has faciUtated the assumption by the national executive, of the right to remove from ofhce, without the consent of the Senate persons who can be appointed only with such consent ;' which assumption is an ob- vious evasion of the spirit of the constitu- tion. It has encouraged political combinations for the purpose of eflfecting sectarian measures ; in defiance of the fundamental law of the United States, and the constitu- tions of the states in which such efforts have been made. It has given rise to the organization and arming oi foreign 'banditti, leagued for the purpose of controlling the freedom of dis- cussion, and opposing the constitutional assembling of American freemen, seeking the redress of political grievances ; which lawless bands have repeatedly threatened, assaulted and temporarily dispersed, law- Bi -^^P ^ i,^ '^\ W^^^ ^^^g^^^f^^W^ r^^m^a^ ful political meetings of native citizens in varions places. Emboldened by the often-tested weak- ness of the constituted authorities, result- ing, as we solemnly believe, from the as- cendency of the foreign influence at the polls, a host of these foreign assassins at length proceeded to redden the gutters of the second city of the union with the blood of unarrned native citizens, without even the semblance of provocation, and with the avowed determination to prevent any political assemblage of the natives of the soil within the limits of one of the political divisions of a sovereign American state. Prostrated in this attempt by the un- governable fury of an outraged commu- nity moving in mass to avenge such insult to the flag of their country, trampled and torn beneath the feet of the very refuse of Europe, — these rufiians and their abettors have since fomented extensive riot and open insurrection ; and, uniting with their ^^m 158 ADDRESS OF prejudiced fellow-countrymen, together with domestic demagogues of various po- litical creeds, have striven unceasingly to fasten upon the victims of their treasonable and murderous proceedings, the odium of crimes originating vdth themselves : — thus exciting bloody contests between oppos- ing bodies of native citizens, impairing, by division, the remaining political influence of the native population, and weakening the bonds of social harmony and the obli- gation of the laws. Collision of opinion has thus been followed ,by collision of arms, in deadly array, in the very sanc- tuary of. our freedom, by the myrmidons of the crowned heads of Europe. If this double struggle, and aggravated danger, does not constitute a crisis of national emer- gency, we are yet to learn what combina- tion of power inimical to liberty, can en- danger the republic, or peril the perma- nency of our institutions. The body of adopted citizens with for- i I I I I M ^l^^^^^SS^^^^S^^S^iSTSli^S* fmfSJ!m:!lW^tmfi'^^i7mri?!^SK*iiw^ THE STATE CONVENTION. 195 country and of honour which warms the hearts of the great mass of Pennsylvanians, we fearlessly proclaim, on your behalf, that, once assured of the exact am?unt and nature of the evils which surround you, you will meet and scatter your difficulties like men and patriots — that, once assured of the economical and honest appropriation of the income of the State, you will endure unmurmuringly the burdens necessary to restore her tarnished fame. Come then, and aid us, citizens of Penn- sylvania, in the great work to which we dedicate ourselves with a fervour that laughs to scorn the sneers of other parties, and the menaces of foreign insolence. That neither of the pre-existing political organizations can save the State, you know as well as we — ^you know it in your hearts ! Lay yout hands there, and deny this if you can, you, who, with lingering aflFection for long-maintained associations, approve