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V f 1 _ . ■ •t. /■ \ I GENEVA COURIER, PUBLISHED EVERY WEDNESDAY MORNING No* 39 Seneca Street, Up-Stairs, BY CLEVELAND & LOOK. T B B M 8 < • - ’ To village subscribers who receive the pa* pers by the carrier,#2.00. To mail subscribers, and those who receive their papers at the office, #1,50. Fifty cezits will be added in all cases where payment is^ not made within three months. No papers will be discontinued '** arrearages are paid. i . ■. TERMS OF ADVERTISING i t)ne square one week, “ three “ “ “ three months - ** •* six «* i( ,i one year Malfcolutnn one year, One CLEVELAND & LOOK, Proprietors. “Q?2 2 @ W 2 2 W S5 <2)5? Iy?@ * & C. CLEVELAND, Editor. VOL. XXI—NO. 34. GENEVA. N. ¥.. WEDNESDAY MORNING, JULY 30, 1851 WHOLE NO. 1074 - £ 0 ,5 9 . 1.00,: . 3.0(1- 5.00 8.00 . 25,00. 40,00' Business Cards inserted one year for 5,00: : No advertisement will be charged less tj^n pne square, and all advertisements win be con tinued until otherwise ordered N. B. All advertisements must be brough in by Tuesday morning in order to secure a • insertion the same Week. DOCTOR R H O A D E S ’, OFFICE AND RESIDENCE ON SENECA . STREET, Nearly opposite the M ansion H ouse . 68 DR. H. W. BELL OFFICE AND RESIDENCE O n M a i n at., O n e D o o r N o r t h o f hie O ld Residence, AND OPPOSITE THE REFORMED DUTCH CHURCH 63 Mr. Webster’s Oration AT THE I*AYINO O F T H E C O R N E R STONE OP THE C A P IT O L EX T E N S IO N . F ellow C itizens :—I congratulate you—I give you joy on the return of this anniversary, and felicitate you also on the more particular purpose of which this memorable day has been chosen to witness the fulfilment. Hail !—All hail! extend. And, perhaps they may make 1 T hat liberty is characteristic, peculiar as considerable advances in the arts o f 1 and altogether our own civil government and the conduct of Nothing like it existed in former times, HALL, RUCKEL & CO., WHOLESALE DRUGGISTS, AND DEALERS IX Paints, Oils, White Lead, Dye I see before and around me a mass of Stuffs, Fancy Articles, fitc., faces, all glowing with cheerfulness and No. 220 GREENWICH St., one Door below 1 patriotic pride. I see thousands of eyes Barclay st., New York, ; turned towards other eyes, all sparkling Invite the patronage of Country Dealers in with gratification and delight. This is general N. B. Manufacturers of the best Friction Matches in the world. 6mG9 & J. H O P K I N S IMPORTERS AND DEALERS OF BAR AND BUNDLE IRON, the New World, this is America, and this is Washington, the capital of the United States. And where else among the nations can the seat of government be surrounded, on any day of any year, by those who have more reason to re- Cast, Blister, and Spring Steel; Amer- > ‘?e .in £h® bl^ sin66 w,'ic‘‘ they eiW 1 lean, English, and German Hard- 1 b,s ,s the anniversarv of Amer,can Inde' ware; Nails, Anvils, Vices, &c., &c., 03 Barclay St, New York. 6m 6 9 . —* W M , F. LEA1MAN, Plain and Ornamental Painter, Graining & Internal Decorations, for Public and Private Houses, done in the best style of the art. Gm69 Seneca st., Geneva, N. Y. \TH O M A S & HALEY, Importers, & Wholesale Dealers in GREEN AND DRIED 2 1 £ Washington § tree t, DA n ’ l THOMAS, > JKREM IAH H A L E Y . S 69 NEW YORK. D IBTZ, B R O T H E R dt CO. 134 WILLIAM STREET, New York. M ANUFACTURERS OF EVERY V A R I E T Y OK Lamps, Chandeliers, Girandoles^ Candelabra, G A S FIXTURES, & C. April, 1851. 5Sm6 SILSBE, BULKLEY & BENNETT, Manufaciurers of, and Wholesale and Retail Dealers in CABINET WARE AND FURNITURE. Ware Rooms—41 Seneca st.^ G E N E V A , N. Y . 50 ~ lniss h e l e n I m . c r a n e , INSTRUCTRESS ON THE PIANO FORTE, C r c u e v a a t . , G e n e r a , IV. V . lU tlyl cT S. ACKLEY, \ SEN E C A STR E E T . G E N E V A , ft. Y- 1«»7 iversary pendence. This bright and brilliant morning witnesses another return of the birth-day of a nation, and that nation, of however recent origin, now among the most considerable and powerful, spread ing over the continent from sea to sea. Among the first colonists from Europe to this part of America there were some, doubtless, who saw a great futurity, but, in general, their hopes were limited to the enjoyment of a safe asylum from tyranny, religious and civil, and to re spectable subsistence by industry and toil. A thick veil hid our times from their vision. But the progress of Ameri ca, however slow, could not but at length awaken genius,'and attract the attention of mankind. In the early part of the next century, Bishop Berkeley wrote his well known verses on the prospects of planting arts and learning in America. The last stanza seems a high poetical inspiration : “ Westward the' course of empire takes its way; The four first acts already past. A fifth shall close the drama with the day : Time’s noblest offspring is the last.” This extraordinary prophecy may be considered only as the result of long foresight and uncommon sagacity, of a foresight and sagacity stimulated by ex cited feeling and high enthusiasm. This clear vision of what America would be come, was not founded on square miles, or on existing numbers, or any vulgar laws of statistics. It was an intuitive glance into futurity ; it was a grand con- life. 41 VVe have retfton to , be proud, and even jealous, of an excellent constitution; but those equitable principles on which it was formed, an equal representation, (the best discovery of political wisdom) 'of political life, and the consequence is and a just and commodious distribution j that to whatever region an American while with us its principles have become interwoven into the minds of individual men, connected with our daily opinions and our daily habits, until it is, if I may so say, an element of social as well as of power, which, with us, were the price of civil wars, and the reward of the vir tues and sufferings of our ancestors, de scend to them as a natural inheritance, without toil or pain. But must they rest here, as in the utmost effort of hur man genius ? Can chance and time, the wisdom and the experience of public men, suggest no new remedy against the evils their vices and ambition are per- etually apt to cause ‘l May they not ope without presumption, to preserve a greater zeal for piety and public devo tion than we have done. For sure, it can hardily happen to them, as it has to us, that when religion is best understood and rendered most pure and reasonable, that then should be the precise time when many cease to believe and practice it,and all in general become most indifferent to it. May they not possibly be more suc cessful than their mother country has been, in preserving that reverence and authority which is due to the laws—to those who make, and to those who ex ecute them ? May not a method be in vented of procuring some tolerable share of the comforts of life to those inferior, useful ranks of men, to whose industry we are indebted for the whole ? Time and discipline may discover some means to correct the extreme inequalities o f con dition between the rich and the poor, so dangerous to the innocence and happi ness of both. They may fortunately be led, by habit and choice, to despise that luxury which is considered with us the true enjoyment of wealth. They may have little relish for that ceaseless hurry of amusement which is pursued in this country without pleasure, exercise, or employment; and, perhaps, after trying some of our follies, and caprices, and re jecting the rest, they may be led, by rea son and experiment, to that old simplici ty which was first pointed out by nature, and has produced those models which we still admire in arts, eloquence,,and mariners. The diversity of new scenes and situations, which so many growing States must necessarily pass through, may introduce changes in the fluctuating opinions and manners of men, which we ception, embracing all line\ since the can form no conception o f ; and not only creation of the world, and all regions of the gracious disposition of Providence, SUPERIOR CHAIN PUMP, MANUFACTURED AND SOLD, WHOLESALE AND RETAIL, , , BY X>. MABXH, Opposite tlie Temperance House, C A S T L E ST., G E N E V A , N. Y. 44y D . T. CLEVELAND, Fire, Marine, Life, and Healtk INSURANCE AGENT. ( o f f i c e a t t h e c o u r i e r o f f i c e , s o u t h s i d e SENECA STREET, NO. \39 UP STAIRS.) _ ________ _ _______ _ t .v .i * ------ : ----------------- DR. J. S. STEVENS, Office with Dr. E. Barnes, East side Park Place, Main Street. Residence, Main Street, 2nd door above the Post Office. __ _ _ D. O. CRANE, M. D., Surgeon Dentist,—Office No. 28, Seneca street DFL WM.\ KIMBEft, Physician and Surgeon—Office, five; doors north __________ of the Bank _____ 48 GEO. P. MOWRY, Dealer in Drugs, Medicines, etc., Nc. 10,Sen eca street. which that world is composed, and judg ing of the future by just analogy with the p a s t; and the inimitable imagery and beauty with which the thought is expressed, joined to the conception itself, render it one of the most striking pas sages in our language. On the day of the Declaration of Independence, our illustrious fathers performed the first act in this drama ; an act, in real importance infinitely exceeding that for which the great English poet invoked \ A muse A. D. PLATT i „ Wholesale and retail dealer in Drugs, Groce ries, Paints and Dyes, No. 8 Seneca street. \7 H. PARMELEE, ~~ Dealer in Drugs, Medicines, Paints, Oils, Dye Stuffs and Groceries, No. 24,^npca st. C. WHEAT, ; Dealer in Fancy & Staple Dry Goods, No. 36 Seneca street, Geneva. _____ • COBB & SMITH, Dealers in Fancy and Staple Dry Goods, Carpet- ipg, etc.—store at No 23, Seneca street. H. H. & G. C. SEELYE, Fashionable Dry Goods, No 30, Seneca street. VROMAN BECKER, _ ’ Dealer in Dry Goods, Groceries, Crockery, Glass and Wooden Ware, Cutlery, Nails, etc.—Water, a little south of Tillman street. \ P. A. BRITTON STCO^ / Dealer in Staple and Fancy Goods, Groceries. etc., at No 16, Seneca street. \ DERBY, ORTON & CO., Booksellers, Stationers, Bookbinders, etc., ,N _________ 22 Seneca street. ______ . WILLIAM H. SMITH, Bookseller, Stationer, Blank Book Manufacturer and Binder. No. 31 Senepa street. 4 - ---- — _ . _ WIGHT & CLARK, Fashionable Hat Store, No 11, Seneca street. A kingdom for a stage, prince* to act, And uionarchs to behold the swelling scene.1* The muse inspiring our fathers-was the genius of L iberty, all on fire with the sense of oppression, and a resolution to throw it off, the whole world was the stage, and higher characters than princes trod i t ; and instead, of monarchs, coun tries, and nations, and the age, beheld the swelling scene. How well the char acters were cast, and how well each per former acted his part, and what emotions the whole performance excited, let his tory now and hereafter tell. At a sub sequent period, but before the Declara tion of Independence, the Bishop of St. Asaph published a discourse; in which the following remarkable passages are found ;— 44 It is difficult for man to look into the destiny of future ages ; the designs of Providence are too vast and complicated, and our own powers are too narrow, to admit of much satisfaction to our curiosi ty. But when we see many great and powerful causes constantly at work, we cannot doubt of their producing propor tionable effects. The colonists of North America have not only taken root and acquired strength, but seem hastening, with an accelerated progress, to such a powerful State, as may introduce a new and important change in human affairs. Descended from ancestors of the most improved and enlightened part of the old world, they receive, as it were, by in heritance, all the improvements and dis coveries of the mother country; and it happens fortunately for them, to com mence their flourishing State, at a time when the human understanding has at tained to the free use o f its powers, and has learned to act with vigor and cer tainty. They may avail themselves not only of the experience and industry, but even of the errors and mistakes of former days. Let it be considered, for how many ages a great part of the world has not thought at a ll; how many more they have been busied in forming systems and conjectures, while reason has been lost in a labyrinth of words, and they never seem to have suspected on what BuffJl2,lt,e^ ^ f t i V 8l8io,o^>oo,iei'11™ '^ vo^oua mallers ^ e i r minds were era- T h e F a r m e r ’s Insninnco Com p a n y o f W a s h in g t o n Co. T h e M u t u a l L i f e Insurance Com p any o f N e w Y o r k , familiarly, known as ‘-The Morris Robinson So.” This Company has a net accumulated fund of o v e r $ 1 , 0 0 0 , 0 0 0 . OFFICE, North side of Seneca St., near ^ armklbe ’ s Drugstore. Geneva, N. Y. 1036 J. R. JOHNSTON, Manufacturer of Steam Engines, Boilers, Mil Gearings, etc., at the Seneca Lake Foundry Water street, Geneva. .4 BfcGAZL H . H U R D , Attorney and Counsellor at L a w Commissioner o f Loans , T a x Agent, and Agent for A. D. HOPPING & CO., - 1 but the visible preparation of causes, seem to indicate strong tendencies to wards a general improvement,*’ Fellow-Gitizens—On the Fourth of July, 1776, the representatives of the United States of America, in Congress assembled, declared that these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States. This de claration, made by most patriotic and resolute men, trusting in the justice of their cause, and the protection of Pro vidence—and yet not without deep solici tude and anxietv—has noxv stood for seventy-five years, and still stands. It was sealed in blood. It has met dangers and overcome them ; it has had enemies, and it has conquered them all; it has abashed them a ll ; it has had doubting friends, but it has cleared all doubts a- way ; and now, today, raising\ its au gust form higher than the clouds, twenty millions of people contemplate it with hallowed love, and the world beholds it, and the consequences which have fol lowed, with profound admiration. This anniversary animates, and gladdens, atid unites, all American hearts^ On other days of the year we may be party men, indulging in the controversies more or less important to the public good ; we may have likes and dislikes, and w.e may maintain our political differences often with warm, and sometimes with angry feelings. But to-day we are Americans, all and all, nothing but Amer icans. As the great luminary over our heads, dissipating mists and fogs, cheers the whole hemisphere, so do the associa tions connected with this day disperse all cloudy and sullen weather, and all noxious exhalations in the minds and * , « feelings of true Americans. Every man’s heart swells within him-r-every man’s port and bearing becomes some what more pround and lofty as he re members that seventy-five years, have rolled away, and that the gr&at inherit ance of liberty is still his, qndiminished and unimpaired; his in all its, original glory; his to enjoy, his to protect, and his to transmit to, future generations. Fellow citizens !—This inheritance is not only an inheritance of liberty, but of our own peculiar American liberty. Liberty has existed in other times, in other countries, and in other formg.™ There has been Grecian liberty, bold and powerful, full of spirit, eloquence and fire; a liberty which produced mul titudes of great,men, and has transmit ted one immortal name, the name of Demosthenes to posterity. But still.it was a liberty of disconnected Slates, sometimes united, indeed, by temporary leagues and confederacies, but often in volved in 'wars between themselves.— The sword of Sparta turned its, Sharpest edge against Athens, enslaved her,and devastated Greece, and, in her turn, years, by a few'countries, with our own I Sparta was compelled to bend before the at iheir head, .which have at last discoy- power of Thebes. And let it ever be ered the right method of using'their fac- remembered—especially let the truth ulties. M a y we not, reasonably expect, (sink deeply into all American minds that a number of provinces, possessed of that it was' the want of union among the these advantagesVand quickened by mu- 1 *'*L'\1' ~ .......... tual emulation, with only the common progress of the human mind, should very ployed. And let it be well understood, what rapid improvement, what important discoveries, have been made in a few MANUFACTURERS OF © ta <© <© m O q and WHOLESALE DEALERS IN P a i n t e d P iails, W o o d a n d W i l l o w W i r e , B riw iies, BASKETS, CORDAGE. & c . 214 WASHINGTON ST.. Between Barclay and Ves 6 y Sts. N e W Y o r h . 64m6 Washington Temperance Houser GENEVA, N. Y. O. EDMONSTON, ___ . - , , , , . , » ■ UHDtUbUuaWIUUVUilUV l/V VUV0V KUI/I/T 0*4 VOW Would .say to the former patrons of this » , . . . J . ,, . 1 rv « popular House, while under the Direction of _ f chance, which mockall the powers of W m . L- P e a r c e , t h a t n o p a in s will be spared invention,.and sometimes by those su- oo his part, to make it agreeable to them, and ‘ perior characters which arise occasional- at alVthe Trains, and ! <?nlighteta ‘he world, it Boat* to carry Passengers and Baggage to and is ditncult even to imagine to what height from the House, Free of-charge. 6l Qf improvement their discoveries may several Stated, which finally gave the mastery df all Greece to Philip of Mace- don. And there has, also; been a Ro- cotisiderably enlarge ihe boundaries of | man liberty, a proud; ambitious^, dotni- Science. The vast continent itself, over which they are gradually spreading, may neering spirit, professing free, and popu lar principles, in Rome itself; but, even be considered a ^ a treasure^ yet untouch-1 >n t^1° best days of the republic, ready ed| of; natural productions, that shall hereafter afford ample, matter for com merce and contemplation. And if we reflect what a stock of knowledge may be accumulated by the constant progress df industry and observation, fed with fresh supplies from the store of nature, assisted sometimes by those happy strokes citizen carries himself, he takes with him, fully developed in his own under standing, our American principles and opinions ; and becomes ready at once, in co-operation with others,to apply them to the formation of new governments Qf this, a most wonderful instance may be seen in the history of the State of Cali fornia. On a former occasion, I have ventured to remark, that it is difficult to establish a free, conservative government for the equal advancement of all the in terests of society. What has Germany done—learned Germany, fuller of an cient lore than all the world besides ?— What, has Italy done ? What have they done who dwell on the spot where Cicero and Justinian lived ] They have not the power of self-government which a common towrn meeting with us possesses. Yes, I say, that those persons who have gone to California, are more fit to make a republican government, than any body of men in Germany or Italy, because they have learned this one great lesson —that there is no security without law, and that under the circumstances in which they are placed, where there is no military authority to cut their throats, there is no sovereign will but the will of the majority; that, therefore, if they re main they must submit to that will. And this I believe to beffrictly true. Now, fellow-citizens, if your patience will hold out, I will venture, before pro ceeding to the more appropriate duties of the day, to state, jn a few words, what 1 take these American political principles in suj^tance to be. They consist, as I think, in the first place, in the establish ment of popular governments by an equal representation ; for it is plain that a pure democracy, like that which existed in some of the States of Greece, in which every individual had a direct vote in the enactment of all laws, cannot possibly exist iu a country of wide extent.' This principle of popular representation, pre vailing either in all the branches of gov ernments, or in some of them, has exis ted in these States almost from the days of the settlement at Yorklown and Plym outh, borrowed no doubt, from the example of the popular branch of the British Legislature. The. representa tion of the people iri the British House of Commons was originally very unequal. Indeed, it may be doubted whether the appearance of knights and burgesses, assembling on the summons of the crown, was not rather intended at first as an as sistance and support to the royal prerog ative, in matters of revenue and taxation, rather than as a mode of ascertaining popular opinion. Nevertheless, repre sentation had a popular origin, and it savored more and more of the character of that origin as it acquired by degrees, greater strength in the actual govern ment of the country. It was in fact, a form of representation,however unequal; numbers were counted, and majorities prevailed ; and when our ancestors, act ing upon this, example, introduced more equality of representation, the idea as sumed a more national and distinct shape. At any rate, this manner of exercising popular power was familiar to our fa thers, when they settled on this conti nent. They adopted it, and generation has risen up after generation, all ac knowledging it and becoming acquainted with its practice and its forms. And the next fundamental, principle in our system is, that the will of the majority fairly expressed through the moans of representation, shall have the force qf law : atid it is quite evident that in a country without thrones, or aristocracies, or priviledged castes or classes,there can be no other foundation for law to stand upon ; and as the necessary result, the third element is that the law is the su preme rule for the government of all.-— The great sentiment of Alcaens, so beau tifully presented to us- by Sir William Jones, is absolutely indispensable to the construction and maintenance of. our political system : “ What constitutes a state? . . i . Not high rais’d battlements or labor’d mound, Thick wall or moated gate; Not chics proud, with spires and turrets crnvyn’d ; 'Not bu^e 'u’ud broad arm’d ports, Whore, laughiug at the eiorrn, rich navies ride; Not sturr’d and spangled courts. Where low brow'd baseness wafts perfume to piide. No— men, blgh minded men, With powers a* far above dull brutes endued, In forest, brake, or dcti. As beast, excel cold rocka end brambles rude ; Men who their duties If now— But k iow their rights, mid knowing, dare maintain; Prevent the long aimed blow, And crush the tyrant white they rend the chain. These constitute a state; And Sovereign Law, that s'atc's collected will, O’er thrones and globes elate, Sits Empress, crowning good, repressing ill.” And finally, another most important part of the great fabric of American lib erty is, that there shall be written con stitutions, founded on the immediate au thority of the people themselves and regulating and restraining all the powers centered upon . government, whether legislative, executive, or judiciary. This, fellow citizens, I suppose to be a just summary of our American principles ; and 1 have, on this occasion, sought to express them in the plainest, and in the fewest words. Th.e summary may not be entirely exact, but I hope it may be sufficiently so to make' manifest to the rising generation, among ourselves and dlesewhere, who may choose to inquire into the nature of our political institu tions, and the general theory upon which they are founded. And I now proceed to add, that the strong and deep'settled conviction of all intelligent persons a- mongst us is, that in order to support a useful and wise government upon these popular principles, the general education of the people, and the wide diffusion* df pure morality and true religion, are in- j which consist only of men, should be wise, and beneficent, and competent to inspire confidence, if the opposite quali- ties belong to those individuals who con stitute those organs, and make Up that aggregate. And now, felloxv citizens, I take leave of this part of the duty which I proposed to petform; and once more felicitating you and myself that our ears have heard the shouts with which joyous thousands welcome its return ; and join ing with you in the hope that every re volving year shall renew these rejoicings to the end of time, I proceed to address you, shortly, upon the particular occa sion of our assembling heTe to day. Fellow citizens : By the act of Con gress, of 30th Sept., 1850, provision was made for the extension of the capitol, according to such plan as might be ap proved by the President of the United States, and the necessary sums to be ex pended under his direction, by such architect as he might appoint. This measure was imperatively demanded for the use of Legislature and judiciary de partments, public libraries, and the oc casional accomodation of the Chief E x ecutive Magistrate, and other objects.— No act of Congress incurring a large ex penditure; has received more general approbation from the people. The Presi dent has proceeded to execute this law. He has approved a plan—he has appoint ed an architect, and all things are now ready for the commencement of the work. The anniversary of our national indepennence appeared to afford an au spicious occasion for laying the founda tion stone of the additional building.— That ceremony has now been performed by the President himself, in the presence and view of this multitude. H e has thought that the day and the occasion made a united and imperative call for some short address to the people here assembled ; and it is at his request that I have appeared before you to perform that part of the duty which was deemed incumbent on us. Beneath the stone is deposited, among other things a list qf, which will be published, the following brief accout of the proceedings of the day, in my hand writing: On the morning of the first day of the seventy-sixth year of the independence of the United States of America, in the city of Washington, being the 4lh day of July, 1851, this stone, designed as the corner stone of 14 the extension of the capital, according to a plan approved by the President in pursuance of an act of Congress, was laid by Millard, Fillmore, President of the United States, assisted by the Grand Master of the Masonic Lodges, in the presence of many mem bers of Congress ; of officers of the army and navy, the corporate authorities of this and neighboring cities; many associa tions, civil,and military, and masonic; of ficers of the Smithsonian Institution and National Institute; professors of colleges and teachers of the schoolsjof the district, with students and pupils; a vast con- ,coarse of people from places near and remote, including a few surviving gentle men who witnessed the laying of the corner stone of the Capitol by President Washington, on the 18th day of Sept. (1793.) sventeen hundred and nienty- three. If, therefore, it shall be here after the will of God, th t this structure shall fall down to its base, and that its foundations be upturned, and the deposit beneath this stone brought to the eyes of men, be it then known that, on this day, the Union of the United States of Ameri ca stands firm—that their constitution exist unimpaired, and with all its original usefulness and glory, growing every day stronger and stronger in the affections of the great body of the American peo ple; attractingjmore and more the admi ration of the world. And all here as sembled, whether belonging to public life or to private life, with hearts de voutly thankful to Almighty God for the preservation of the liberty and happiness of the country, unite in sincere and fer vent prayers that this deposit, and the walls and arches, the domes and towers, the columns and entablatures, now to be erected over it, may endure forever. God save the United States of A- tnerica. D aniel W ebster , Sec’y of State.” Fellow Cilitzens : Fifty years ago Washington stood on this spot to execute a similar duty to that which has now been performed. He then laid the cor ner stone of the original capitol. He was at the head of the government, at that time weak in resources, burdened with debt, just struggling into political existence, and agitated by the heaving waves which were overturning Europe an thrones. But even then, in many important respects, the government was strong, own great character the wisdom and patriotism of other emi nent public men, his political associates and fellow-laborers—It was strong in the affection of the people. Since that time astonishing changes have been wrought in the condition and prospects of the A- merican nation ; and a degree of progress witnessed, of which the world can furn ish no parallel. As we now review the course of that progress, wonder and a- mazement arrest our attention at every step. The great occasion, allowing of no lengthened remarks, may yet, perhaps admit of a short, comparative statement between important subjets of national in terest, as they .existed at that day, and as they now exist. I have adopted, for this purpose, the tabular form of statement, as being the most brief ami the most ac curate. It was strong in Washington’s it was strong in to carry slavery and chains into her provinces, and through every country, over whiefi her ■qagles could be borne. Who ever lieard of liberty in Spain, or Gaul, or Germany^ ,on Britain, in the days of Rome ! .. There was nope such;. As the Rp- man Empire declined, her provinces, not dispensible. Individual virtue is a part of public virtue: It is difficult to cbirceive how there can remain morality in the govern ment when it shall cease to exist among the people ; or bow the aggregate of the political institutions, all the organs of COMPARATIVE TABLE. e 1793. nstructed in the jfriri^i'ples of free, popu lar government* one after another, dined also ; and when Rome herselfjfell, in the end all fell together. , 1 have said, gentlenieb, that our inheritance is an inheritance ‘df American liberty.— Number of State*, Representatives ami Senators in Congress, Poiralalloti of the U. Stales, do Boston, do Baltimore, do\ Philadelphia, ild • N. Y.city, do i Washington, Ain't of receipts Into tieasury, do expenditures of'Uni- . led States, Amount of imports, do exports, do tonnage, : Area of the United Stoles, Hank and File of the army, • MllltiS* enrolled, Navy of theu. S vessels, do Armament, ordinance; No. of treaties and conventions with foreign powers, 15 135 3,9:9,358 18,03d 13,502 ! 42;sio • 33,121 S5,720,024 7,299,515 31,000,000 80,109,000 520,764 <305,461 5,120 None. 0 1851. ’ 31 205 23,207.493 130.881 169,034 400,045 515,507 40,073 $34,214,848 e 39,355,968 178,136,318 161,898,790 3,535,455 3,344,360 10,000 3,000,456 70 2,013 90 7 $12,001 37? $529,20 5 209 5,612 14,041 4 1-4 acres 8,500 15,000 21,551 179,671 $103,747 $5,552,971 72.040 5,352,971 35 75,000 40,541,423 G94 2,2111,632 10,(100 2,000,000 Number of light houses and light-boats, Expenditures for do, Area of the first cnpltol build ing, in square feet, Area of the present capitol, Including extension, Lines of railroads, in miles, do telegraphs. Number of post offices, do miles of post route, Amount of revenue from post office, Amount of expenditures In the post office department. Number of miles, mull trails- portation, Public libraries, Number of volumes in do., School libraries, Number of volumes In do., A short note is here adde<l, respecting the growth of Western trade and com merce, extracted from an address before the Historical Society of Ohio, by Will iam D. Gallagher, Esq., 18o0 : 44 A few facts will exhibit, as well as a volume, the wondeful grolh of Western trade and commerce. Previous to the year 1800, some eight or ten keel boats, of twenty or twenty-five tons each performed all the carrying trade between Cincinnati and Pittsbugh. In 1802 the first Gov ernment vessel appeared on Lake Erie. In 1811, the,first steamboat, the Orleans, was launched at Pittsburgh. In 1826, the waters of Michagan were first plow ed by the keel of a steamboat, a pleasure trip to Green Bay being planed and exe cuted in the summer of this year. 'In 1832, a steamboat first appeared at Chi cago. At the present time, the entire number of steamboats running on the o Mississippi and the Ohio, and their tribu taries, is more probably over than under six hundred, the aggregate tonnage of which is not short of one hundred and forty thousand—a larger number of steamboats than England can claim and a greater steam commercial marine than that employed by Great Britain and her dependencies.” In the depaitment of invention there have been wonderful ap plications of science to arts, within the last sixty years. The spacious hall of the Patent office is at once the repository and the prop of American inventive art and genius. Their results are seen in the numerous improvements, by which human labor is abridged. Without going into details, it may be sufficient to say, that many applications of steam to loco motion and manufactures ; of electricity and magnetism, to the production of me chanical motion, to the electric telegraph' to the registration of astronomical phe nomena, to the art of multiplying engrav ings ; the introduction and improvements among us of all the important inventions of the old world, are strikingly indicative of the advance of this country in the use- lul arts. The network of railroads and telegraph lines by which this country is reticulated, have not only developed its varied resources, but united emphatically in metallic bonds all parts of the Union. The hydraulic works of New York, Philadelphia, and Boston, surpass, in ex tent and importance, those of anciont Rome,. But we have not confined our attention to the immediate application of science to the useful arts ; we have entered the field of original research, and have enlarged the bounds of scientific knowledge. Sixty years ago, besides the brilliant discoveries of Franklin in electricity, scarcely anything had been done among us in the way of original invention. Our men of science were content with re peating the experiments, and diffusing a knowledge of the discoveries, of the sa~ vans of the old world, without attempt ing to add a single new fact or principle to the existing stock. Within the last twenty-five or thirty years a remarkable improvement has taken place in this re spect. Our natural history has been explored in all its branches ; our geology has been investigated with results of the highest interest to practical and theoret ical science, Discoveries have been made in pure chemistry and electricity, which have received the approbation of the world. The advance which has . been made in meteorology in this country within the last twenty years, is equal to that made during the same period in all the. world besides. In 1793, there was not in the United States an instrument with which a good observation of the heavenly bodies could be made. There are now instruments at Washington, Cambridge, and Cincinnati, equal to those at the best European observatorie5; and the original discoveries in astronomy within the last five years in this country are among the most brilliant of the age. Our knowledge of the geography and topography-of the American continent, has been rapidly extended by the labor and science of the officers of the United Slates army, and discoveries of mucli interest, in distant seas, have resulted from the enterprise of our navy, in 1807, a survey of the coast was com menced, which at that time it was sup posed no American was competent to di‘ rect.The work has,however,grown within the last few years, under a native su perintendent, in importance ond extent, beyond any ever before attempted.— These facts conclusively prove that a great advance has been made among us, not only in the application of science to the wants of ordinary life, but to science itself, in its application to satisfy the cravings of the immortal mind. In re spect to literature, with the exception of one or two spelling books, and oilier school-books of an inferior character, and some theological treatises, of which none hut those of Jonathan Edwards have any permanent value, and some works on local history and politics, like 14 H utch inson’s Massachusetts,” l< Jefferson’s Notes on Virginia,” 14 The Federalist,” 44 Belknap’s New Hamshire” ^Morse’s Geography,” and a few others, America had not produced a single work of any repute ip science or literature. We were almost wholly depedent on imported books. Even our bibles and testaments were for tho most part print ed abroad. The book trade now is one of the greatest branches of business, and works of standard value, and of high re- * * . i — putaiion iu Europe as well as at home, havebeen produced by American authors in every, department of science and liter ature. While the nation has been e x panded in dimensions,in numbers, and in wealth, the government has applied a I wise forecast in the adoption of necessary J measures, when the world shall no longer be at peace, to maintain the national hon or whether by appropriate displays of vigor abroad, or by well adapted means of defence at home. A navy which has so often illustrated our history by heroic achievements,though restrained in peace ful times, possesses in its admirable ele ments the means of great and sudden e x pansion, and is justly looked upon by the nation as the right arm of its power, an army still smaller, but not less perfect in its details, which has, on many afield exhibited the military aptitudes and powers of tfie lace, and demonstrated the wisdom which lias presided over its organization and government. While the graduaj and slow enlargement of these military arms has been regulated by a jealous wacthfulness over the pub lic treasure, there has nevertheless, been freely gi\*on, all that was needed to per feet their quality ; and each affords the nucleus of any enlargements that the public exigencies may demand from the millions of brave hearts and strong arms upon tho land and water. The navy is the active and aggressive element of national defence; and, let loose from our own coast, must dis play its power, in the seas and channels of the enemy. To do this it need not be large; and it can never be large enough to defend by its presence at home, all our ports and harbors. But, in the absence of tho navy, what can the brave hearts and strong arms of the army and militia do against the enemies’ line-of- baltle ships and steamers, falling without notice upon our coast] What will guard our cities from tribute, our mer chant vessels and qui * navy yaids from conflagration ? Here, again, we see a wise forecast in the system of defensive measures, which especially since the close of the war with Great Britain, has been steadi ly followed by our goverment. While the perils from which our great estab lishments had just escaped were yet fresh in recollection, a system of forti fications was begun, which now though not quite complete, fences in our impor tant points with impassable strength.— More than four thousand connon may at any moment, within strong and per manent works, arranged with all the ad vantages and appliances that the art affords, be turned to the protection of the sea coast, and be served bv the men * whose hearths they shelter. Happy fur us that it is so, since these arc means of security that time alone can supply ; and since the improvements of maritime warfare, by malting distant expeditions easy and speedy, have made them more probable, and at the same time moft difficult to anticipate and provide against. The cost of fortifying all the important points on our whole Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico frontier will not exceed the amount expended on the fortifications ol Paris. In this connection one most im portant facility in the defence of the country is not to be overlooked It is the almost instantaneous rapidity with which the soldiers of the army and any number of the militia corps many now be brought to any point where a hostile attack may be made or threatened. All this extension of territory within the United States, increase of its popula tion commerce and manufactures, devel opment of its recources by canals and roilroads, and rapidity of intercommuni cation by innumerable steamboats and telegraphs, has been accomplished with out overthrow qf, or danger to, the pub lic liberties, by any assumption of mili tary power, and, indeed, without any permament increase of the army, except for the purpose of frontier defence, and offording a slight guard to the public pro perty ; or of the navy, and farther than to assure the navigator that, in whatso ever sea he shall sail his ship, he is pro tected by the stars and stripes of his country. All this, without the shedding of a dropofblo-od for treason or rebellion all this, while systems of popular repre sentation have regularly been supported in the Slate governments and in the general government—all this, while laws, national and State, of such a character have been so wisely administered, that I may stand up here to day, and declare, ns 1 now do, in the face of all the intelli gence of the age, that for the period which has elapsed from the day that Washington laid the foundation of this capitol to the present time, there has been no country upon earth in which liberty, and property have been more amply and steadily secuied or freely enjoyed, than in these United States of America.— Who is there that will deny this ]— Who is there prepared with a greater or a better example ] Who is there that can stand upon the foundation of facts, acknowledged or proved, and assert that these, our republican institutions, have not answered the true ends of govern ment, beyond all precedent in human history—There is yet another view.— There are still higher considerations.— Man is an intellectual being, defined to immortality. There is a spirit in him, and the breath of the Almighty hath given him understanding. Then only, is he lending toward his own destiny,while he seeks for knowledge or virtue, for tho will of his Makerand for just conceptions of his own duty. Of all important ques tions,therefore,let this bo tho most impor tant of all,be first asked and first answered in what country of the habitable globe, of great extent and large population, are the means of knowledge the most gen erally diffused and enjoyed among the people I This question admits of one and only one answer. It is here—it is here, in these U. S—it is among the de scendants of those who settled in York- town, of those who wore pilgrims on the cost of Plymouth; and of those other races of men, who, in subsequent times have become joined in this great Ameri cans family. Let one fact, incapable of doubt or dispute, satisfy every mind on this point. The population of the U. S. is 23,000,000. Now take tho map of the continent of Europe and spread it out before you. Take your scale and y rnr dividers and lay oil* in one area, in any shape you please, a triangle, square, circle, parallelogram, or trapezoid, and of an area that shall contain 50,000,000 within the lines of your demarcation. But there is something even more than this. Man is not only an intellectu al, but he is also a religious being, aqel his religious feelir.gs and liabts require cultivation. Let the religious clement in man’s nature be neglected, let him be influenced by no higher motives thin self-interest, and subjected to no stronger restraint than the limits of civil outhorl- l}’, and be becomes the creature of selfish passions or blind fanaticism. The spect acle of a nation, powerful and enlighten ed, but without Christian fsith, has been presented, almost within our own day, as a warning beacon for the nation*. On the other hand, the cultivation of 'Ir religious sentiment represses lieentionsm incites to general benevolence and the prac tical acknowledgment of the brotherhood of man, inspires respect foi law and order, and gives strength to the whole social fabric ; at the same lime, it conducts the human soul upward to the author of its being. As one of its necessary consequences, it may, 1 think, be stated with truth, liret in no coun try, in proportion to its population, are there so many benevolent establishments; hible, missionary, and tract societies, supported b* public and private contributions, ns in oil! own. There are also m*tU«tions for the education of the blind, the deaf uml dumb, of idiots, for the reception of orphan and destitute children, for moral reform, design ed for children and women respectively, in stitutions for the reformation of criminals, not to speak of those numerous establish ments in almost every county and town in the United States, for the reception ol the aged, infirm, and destitute poor, many of whom have lied to our shores to escape the poverty and wretchedness of their condition at home. In the United States, there is no church establishment or ecclesiastical au thority founded by government. Public worship is maintained either by voluntary contributions, or by trusts and donations of a charitable origin. Now, 1 think it is safe to say that a greater portion of the people of the United States attend public worship decently clad, well behaved, and well seat-* ed, than any other country cf the civilized world. Edifices of religion are seen cve/y> where. Their aggregate cost would amount to an immense sum of money. They ar»y in general, kept in good repair, and conse crated to the purposes of public worshiff. In these edifices the people reguJaily as semble on the Sabbath day, which is sacred ly set apart for rest, by all classes, from sec ular employment and foi religious meditation and worship—to listen to the reading of the holy scriptures, and discourses from pious ministers of the several denominations.--f This attention to the wants of the intellect and of the soul, as manifested by the volun tary support of schools and colleges,, of churches and benevolent institutions,' one of the most-remarkable characteristics of the American people, not Jess strikingly exhibited in the new than in the older set tlements of the country. On the spot where the first trees of the forest were felled, near the lug-cabins of the pioneers, are to be seen rising together the church and the school-house. So it has been fiom the ginning, and God grant that it may thus con tinue. 11 On oilier shores, above Iheir mouldering loivers, In sullen pomp the tall cathedral frowns; Simple and frail our lowly temples throw Their slender shadows on the paths below : Scarce steals the wind that sweeps his woodland trai l:. The larch’s perfume from tho settler's aie, Ere tike a vision of the morning air. . . . His slight train’d steeple marks the hnu?c of prayer. **•*«*« Yet faith's pure hymn, beneath its shelter rude, Breathes out as sweetly to the tangled wood, As where the rays through blowing oriels popr, On marble shall and lesselated floor.” Who docs not admit that this unparalleled growth of prosperity and renown, are the re sults, under Providence, of the union of these States under a general constitution* which guarantees to each Stale a republican form of government, and to every man tin enjoyment of life, liberty, and the pursuit oi happiness, free from civil tyranny or eccle-v- iaslical dominion. To bring home this ideft to the present occasion, who does not-feel that when President Washington laid hi* hand on the foundation of the first capitol building, he performed a great work of per petuation of the Union and the constitution ■ Who does not feel that this scat of the gen eral government, healthful in its sitnatioi , central in its position, near to the mountains from whence gush springs of wonderful vir tue, teeming with nature's richest product** and yet not far from the bays uml the grem estuaries of the sea, easily accessible, and1 generally agreeable in climate and associa tions, does not give slrengtH to the union of these States; that this city, bearing an im mortal name, with its broad streets and ave nues, its public squares, and magnificent edi fices of the general government, erected for the purpose of carrying on within them the important business of the several depart ments, for the reception of wonderful and curious inventions, the preservation of the records of American learning and genins, of extensive collections of the products of na-; lure and art brought here for study and com parison from all parts of the world,, adorned with numerous churches, and sprinkled over (I am happy to say) with many public schools where all the children of the cilyr without distinction, are provided with the? means of obtaining a good education—where there are academies and colleges, profession* al schools and public libraries—should con tinue to receive, as it has heretofore, the leis tering care of Congress, and should be re garded as the permanent seat of the national government. Here, loo, a citizen of tho great republic of letters—a republic which knows not the metes and bounds of political geography—has indicated, I trust- propheti cally, to this nation, a wide and popular in fluence in the intellectual world,and lo^Uiis city a commanding position in the field of science and literature, by endowing here and placing under the guardianship of the gov ernment, an institution “ for the increase and diff usion of knowledge among men.1* With each succeeding year, new interest is added to the spot. It becomes connected with all the historical associations of our country, with her statesmen and her orators, and a las! its cemetery is usually enriched with the ashes of her chosen sons. Before us is the broad and beautiful river, separ ating two of the original thirteen States^ and which a late President, a man of determined purpose and inflexible’ will, but patriotic heart, desired to span with arches-of ever* enduring granite* symbolical of the firmly cemented union of the North and South.— On its banks repose the ashes of the Father of his Country, and at our side, by a singu lar felicity of position, overlooking the cily which he designed, and which bears his name, rises to his memory the marble col umn, sublime in its simple grandeur, and fit ly intended to reach a loftier bight than any similar structure on the surface of the whole earth. Let the votive offering of his grate ful countrymen be freely contributed io car ry still higher this monument. May I as on another occasion, “ Let it rise! ** rise ! till it shall meet the sun in coming —let the earliest light of the morning gild it, and parting day linger and play on its summit Fellow citizens—what contemplations are awakened in our minds as we assemble here i t, f ii i > of people, and there will be found within _______ ___ the U. S. more p e r s o n s who do habitual- t0 re.enact a scene like that performed by \ y read and write, than can be embraced , Washington. Methinks f see hi$ venerablu
