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 Ojr the Powers and Pollcf of ^he Oororament of the Pnltcd States; 
 
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 Born in a land of liberty, and breathing an air uncorrupted with the 
 sirocco of barbarous climes, I ever feel a double anxiety fer the happiness 
 of all men, both in time and in eternity. My cogitations like Daniel’s, have 
 for along time troubled me, when I viewed the condition of men throughout 
 the world, and more especielly in this boacted realm, where the Declaration 
 of Independence ‘‘holds these truths to be self evident; that all men are 
 “created equal: that they are endowed by their Creator, with certain unal- 
 “ienable rights; that among these arelile, liberty, and the pursuit of happi- 
 “ness,” but at the same time, some tw'O or three millions of people are held 
 as slaves for life, because the spirit in them is covered with a darker skin than 
 ours: and hundreds of our own kindred for an infraction, or supposed infrac- 
 tion of some over-wise statute, have to be incarcerated in dungeon glooms, 
 or suflhr the more moral penctentiary gravitation of mercy in a nut-shell, 
 while the duellist, the debauchee, and the defaulter for millions, and other 
 criminals, take the uppermost rooms at feasts, or, like the bird of passage, find 
 a more congenialclime by flighU • v 
 
 The wisdom, which ought to characterize the freest, wisest, and most 
 noble i>ation of the nineteenth century, should, like the sun in his meridian 
 splendor, warm every object beneath its rays: and the main efibrts of her 
 officers, who Are nothing more or less than the servants of the people, ought 
 to bo directed to ameliorate the condition of all: black or white, bond or free; 
 for the best of books says, “God hath made of one blood all nations of men, 
 ♦♦ for to dwell on all the face of the earth.” 
 
 Our common country presents to all men the same advantages; the same 
 facilities; the same prospects; the same honors; and the same rewards: and 
 without hypocrisy, the Constitution when it says “We, the People of th© 
 “ United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, 
 “ ensure trauqiiility, provide for the common defence, promote the general 
 “ welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, 
 “ do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America,” 
 ht)«ant just what it said, without reference to color or condition: ad iTifinitum* 
 
 
appears m said uonstituiioot ought to be treated, by those to whom the ad- 
 ministration of the laws are intrusted, with as much sanctity, as the prayers 
 of the saints are treated in heaven, that love, confidence and union, uko the 
 sun, moon and stars should bear witness. 
 
 (For over alogiog m they ohine,) 
 **Th* kawi that wuuU us is dhins I** 
 
 ter/ 
 
 Unity is power, and when I reflect on the importance of it to the stabil- 
 ity of all governments, 1 am astounded at the silly moves of persons and par- 
 ties, to foment discord in order to ride into power on the current of popular 
 excitement; nor am 1 less surprized at the stretches of power, or restrictions 
 of right, which too often appear as acts of legislators, to pave the way to some 
 favorite political schemes, as destitute of intrinsic merit, as a wolf's heart is 
 of the milk of human kindness; a Frenchman would say, ‘‘prosque tout aimer 
 richesses et pouvoir;” (almost all men like wealth and power.) 
 
 I must dwell on this subject longer than others, for nearly one hundred 
 years ago that golden patriot, Benjanfln Franklin, drew up a plan of union 
 for the then Colonies of Great Britain that now are such an Independent 
 nation, which among many wise provisions for obedient children under their 
 father’s more rugged hand, had this; — “they have power to make laws, and 
 “ lay and levy such general duties, imports, or taxes, as to them shall appear 
 “most equal and just, (considering the ability and other circumstances of the 
 “ inhabitants in the several colonies,) and such as may be collected with the 
 “ least inconvenience to the people; rather discouraging luxury, than loading 
 “ industry with unnecessary burthens.” Great Britain surely lacked the 
 laudable humanity and fostering clemency to grant such a just plan of union 
 —but the sentiment remains like the land that honor’d its birth, as a pattern 
 for wise men to stu ly th$ convenience of the people more than the comfort of 
 the cabinet. 
 
 And one of the most noble fathers of our freedom and country’s glory ; 
 great in war, great in peace, great in the estimation of the world, and great 
 in the hearts of his countrymen, the illustrious Washington*, said in his first 
 inaugural address to Congress; “I behold the surest pledges that as, on one 
 “ side, no local prejudices or attachments, no separate views or party ani- 
 “mosities, will misdirect the comprehensive and equal eye which ought to 
 “ watcli over this great assemblage of communities and interests, so, on 
 “ another, that the foundations of our national policy will be laid in the pur# 
 “and immutable principles of private morality; and the pre-eminence of free 
 “ government be exemplified oy all the attributes whion can win the afiec- 
 “ tions of its citizens, and command the respect of the world,” Verily, here 
 shines the virtue and wisdom of a statesman in such lucid rays that had every 
 succeeding Congress followed the rich instruction, in all their deliberations 
 and enactments, for the benefit and convenience of the whole community 
 and the communities of which it is composed, no sound of a rebellion in 
 South Carolina; no rupture in Rhode Island; no mob in Missouri expelling 
 her citizens by executive authority; corruption in the ballot boxes; a border 
 warfare between Ohio and Michigan; hard times and distress; outbreak upon 
 outbreak in the principle cities; murder, robbery, and defalcation, scarcity 
 of money, and a thousand other difficulties, would have torn asunder the 
 
bond* of the union: destroyed the confidence of man with man; and left the 
 the great body of the people to mourn over misfortunes in poverty, brought 
 on by corrupt legislation m an hour of proud vanity, for self oggrandizemenu 
 The great Washington soon after the foregoing faithful admonition for the 
 common welfare of bis nation, further advised Congress that “among tho 
 “ many interesting ^^ojects which will engage your attention, that of provi- 
 “ ding for the common defence wiH merit particular regard. To be prepared 
 “ for war is one of the most efTectual nacans of preserving peace.” As the 
 Italian would say; Bu9no avisoy (good advice.) 
 
 The elder Adams in his inaugural address, gives national pride such a 
 grand turn of justification, that every honest citizen must look back upon the 
 infancy of the United States with an approving smile and rejoice, that patri- 
 otism m the rulers, virtue in the people, and prosperity in the union, onc« 
 crowned the expectations of hope; unveiled the sophistry of the hypocrite 
 and silenced the folly of foes: Mr. Adams said, “if national pride is ever 
 “justifiable, or excusable, it is when it springs, not from power ox riches, 
 “grandeur or glory, but from conviction of national innocciice, information 
 “ and benevolence.” There is no doubt such was actually the case with our 
 young realm at the close of the last century; peace, prosperity, and union, 
 filled the country with religious toleration, temporal enjoyment and virtuous 
 enterprize; and grandly, too, when the deadly vrinter of the “Stamp Aact,” 
 the “Tea Act,” and other close communion acts of royalty had choked the 
 growth of freedom of speech, liberty of the press, and liberty of conscience, 
 did light, liberty and loyalty flourish like the cedars of God. 
 
 The respected and venerable Thomas Jefferson, in his inaugural address, 
 made more than forty years ago, shews what a beautiful prospect an inno- 
 cent, virtuous nation presents to the sage's eye, where there is space for 
 enterprize: hands for industry; heads for heroes: and hearts for moral great- 
 ness. He said, “A rising niiion, spread over a wide and fruitful land, tra- 
 “ versing all the seas with the rich productions of their industry, engaged in 
 “commerce .with nations w' o feel power and forget nght, advancing rapidly 
 “to destinies beyond the niach of mortal eye; when 1 contemplate these 
 
 transcendant objects, an< see the honor, the happiness, and the hopes of 
 “ this beloved country com nitted to the issue and the auspices of this day, 
 
 I shrink from the contem] lation, and humble nayself before the magnitude 
 “of the undertaking.” Si' 2 h a prospect was trul^ soul stirring to a goo i 
 man, but “since the Fathe/’aliave fallen asleep,” wicked and designing men, 
 have unrobed the government of its glory ,^and the people, if not m dust and 
 ashes, or in sack cloth, have to lament in poverty, tier departed greatness: 
 while demagogues build fires in the north and south, east and west, to keep up 
 their spirits iul itis better Arnes: but year after year has left the people to 
 hope till the very name of Congressyox Slate Legislalure^ is as horrible to tho 
 sensitive friend of his country, as the house of “Blue Beard” is to children; 
 or “Crocketts” Hell of London, to meek men. When tho people are secure 
 and their rights properly respected, then the four main pillars of prosperty, 
 viz: agriculture, manufactures, navigation, and commerce, need the fostering 
 care of government: and in so goodly a country as ours, where the soil, the 
 climate, the rivers, the lakes, and the sea coast; the productions, the timber, 
 the minerals; and the Inhabitants are so diversified, that a pleasing variety 
 accommodates all tastes, trades, and calculations, it certainly is the highest 
 point of supervision to protect the whole northern and southern, eastern and 
 western, centre and circumference of the realm, by a judicious tariff*. It i« 
 
an old saying and a tkaie one, if you w isli to be r*specUd^ respect yoiuv 
 selves,” . •. - ' ' , 
 
 I will adopt, in pari, the language of Mr. Madison's inaugui^ address, ^ To 
 “ cherish peace and friendly intercourse w ith all nations, having correspond- 
 
 ent dispositions; to maintain sincere neutrality towards belligerent nations; | 
 ** to preier in all cases amicable discussion and reasonable accommodation of ■ 
 “ dinerences to a decision of them by an appeal to arms; to exclude foreign 
 
 intrigues and foreign partialities, so degrading to all countries, and so bane- 
 ‘‘ful to free one?; to foster a spirit of independence too just to invade the 
 “ rights of others, too proud to surrender our own, too liberal to indulge un- 
 
 worthy prejudicies ourselves, and too elevated not to look down upon them | 
 “in others; to hold the union of the States as the bases of their peace and 
 “ happiness; to support the constitution, which is the cement of the union, as 
 “ welt as in its limitations as in its authorities; to respect the rights and author- | 
 “ ities reserved to the States and to tlie people, as equally incorporated with, i 
 
 “and essential to the success, of the general system; to avoid the slightest i 
 
 “ interference with the rights of conscience, or the functions of religion, [ 
 
 “so wusely exempted from civil jurisdiction; to preserve in their full energy, i 
 
 “ the other salutary provisions in behalf of private and personal rights, and of » 
 
 “ the freedom of the press;” as far as intention aids in the fulfillmeiit of duty, j 
 
 are consummations to big with benefits not to captivate the energies of all j 
 
 honest men to achieve them, when they can be brought to pass by reciprcw ■ 
 
 cation, friendly alliances, wise legislation, and honorable treaties, j 
 
 The government has once flourished under the guidance of trusty servants; | 
 
 and the Hon. Mr. Munroe in his day, while speaking of the Constitution: | 
 
 says, “ our commerce has been wisely regulated with foreign nations, and f 
 
 “between the states; new states have been admitted into our union; our i 
 
 “ teritory has been enlarged by fair and honorable treaty, and with great I 
 
 “advantage to the original states; the states respectively protected by the j 
 
 “ national government, under a mild paternal system against foreign dangers, | 
 
 “and enjoying witliin their separate spheres, by a wise partition of power, a 
 “just proportion of the sovereignty, have improved their police, extended 
 “ their settlements, and attained a strength and maturity which are the best 
 “ proofs of wholsome law well administered. And if we look to the condU 
 “ tion ol individuals, what a proud spectacle does it exhibit ? who has been 
 “deprived of any right of person or jiroperty ? who restrained from offering 
 “ his vows in the mode in which he prefers, to the Divine Author of his being? 
 
 “ It is well knowm that all these blessings have been enjoyed in their fullest 
 “ extent; and I add, with peculiar satisfaction, that there has been no exani- 
 “ pie of a capital punishment being inflicted on any one for the crime of high 
 “ treason.” What a delightful picture, of power, policy and prosperity ! f 
 Truly the wise man’s proverb is just: “Sedaukauh teromfiin goy, veh-Ka-sado 
 le-u-mdem khahmaut.” Righteousness exalteth a nation, but sin is a reproach 
 to any people. 
 
 But this is not all. The same honorable statesman, after having had a-* 
 bout forty years experience in the government, under the full tide of success- 
 ful experiment, gives the following commendatory assurance of the eflicien- 
 cy of the magna charta to answer its great end and aim: To protect the peo- 
 ple in their nghts, “ Such, then, is the happy government undt r which we 
 
 live; a government adequate to every purpose for which the social compact 
 ** is formed; a government elective in all its branches, under which every cit- 
 
tn 
 
 “izen may, by his merit, obtain the highest trust Recognized by the coitslitil- 
 “ tlon; which contains witlun it no cause of discord; hone to put at variance 
 “ one portion of the community w ith another; a government wlRich protects 
 “ every citizen in the full enjoyment of his rights, and is able to protect the 
 “ nation against injustice from foreign powers.” 
 
 Again, the younger Adams in the silver age of our country's advancement 
 to fame, in his inaugural address, (1825) thus candidly declares the majesty of 
 the youthful Republic, in its increasing greatness. “ The year of jubilee since 
 **the first formation of our union has just elapsed; that of the declaration of 
 “Indedepend mce is at hand. The consummation of both was cfFectcd by 
 this constitution. Since that period, a population of four millions has multi- 
 “ plied to twelve. A territory, bounded by the Mississippi, has been ex- 
 tended from sea to sea. New states have been admitted to the union, iri 
 “ numbers nearly equal td those of the first confederation. T rcatics of peace, 
 amity and commerce, have been concluded with the principle dominiorl^* of 
 “ the earth. The people of other nations, the irtliabitarits of regions acquired, 
 “ not by conquest, but by compact, hate been united with us m the partici- 
 “ nation of our rights and duties, of our burdens and blessings. The forest 
 ** nas fallen by the axe of our woodsmen; the soil has been made to teem by 
 “ the tillage of our farmers; our commerce has whitened every ocean. The 
 “ dominion of man over physical nature has been extended by the invention of 
 “ our artists. Liberty and law have walked hand in hand. All the purposes 
 ** of human association have been acccomplished as effectively as under any 
 “other government on the globe, and at a cost little exceeding, in a whole 
 “ generation, the expenditures of other nations in a single year. 
 
 In continuation of such noble sentiments, Gen. Jackson, upon Ids r jccn- 
 sion to the great chair of the chief magistracy: said, “As long as our gov- 
 “ ernment is administered for the good of the people, and is regulated by their 
 “ will; as long as it secures to us the rights of person and property^ liberty of 
 “ conscience, and of the press, it will be w^orth defending; and so longn* it 
 “ is worth defending, a patriouc militia will cover it with and impenetrable 
 icgis.” ' 
 
 General Jackson’s administration may be denominated the acme of Amer- 
 ican glory, liberty and prosperity, for the national debt, which in 1315, on 
 account of thq lata war, was §125,000,000, and lessened gradually, was paid 
 up in his golden day; and preparations were made to distribute the surplus 
 revenue among the several states: and that august patriot, to use his own 
 words in his farew’ell address, retired leaving “ a great people prosperous and 
 “happy, in the full enjoyment of liberty and peace^ honored and respected 
 “ by every nation of the world.” 
 
 ‘'At the oge, then, of sixty years out blooming Republic began to decline 
 Under the withering touch’of Martin Van Buren! Disappointed ambilion; 
 thirst for power, pride, corruption, party spirit, faction, patronage; perquisites, 
 famev tangling alliances; priest-craft and spiritual wickedness in high plac^s^ 
 struck bands, and reveled in midnight splendor. Trouble, vexatk>n) per- 
 plexity and contention, mingled with hope, fear and murmuring, rumbled 
 through the union and agitated the whole nation as would an earthquake at 
 the centre of the earth the world, heaving the sea beyond its bounds, and 
 shaking the everlasting hills-; So, in hopes of better limes, while jcalousv, 
 hypocritical pretentions, and pompous ambition, were luxuriating on the ill- 
 
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 gotten ipoili of the people, they rose in their mtjeety like a tornado, and 
 fwepl through the land, till General Uarruon appeared, aa a itar among the 
 ttorm clouds, fur better weather, v . 
 
 The calm came; and the language of that venerable patriot^ in his ioau- 
 ^ral address, while descanting upon the merits of the constitution and iu 
 framers, thus expressed hirnsell. ♦‘There were in it features which appear- 
 “ ed not to be in harmony with their ideas of a simple representative democ- 
 “racy or republic. And knowing the tendency ot power to increase itself, 
 “ particularly when executed by a single individual, predictions were made 
 “ that, at no very remote poriod, the government would terminate in virtual 
 “ monarchy. It would not become me to say that the fears of these patriots 
 “have been already realized. But as I sincerely believe that the tendency of 
 “ measures and of men's opinions, for some yea s past, has been in that dircc- 
 “ tion, it is, I conceive, strictly proper that I should take this occasion to re- 
 “ peat the assurances I have heretofore given, of my determination to arrest 
 “ the progress of that tendency if it really exists, and restore the government 
 “ to its pristine health and vigor.” This good man died before he had 
 the opportunity of applying one balm to eas^ the pain of our groaning 
 country, and I am willing the nation should be the jucfge, wheth' r GenerM 
 Harrison, in his exalted station, upon the eve of his entrance into the world 
 of spirits, told the truth or not: with acting president Tyler’s three years of 
 perplexity and pseudo whig democrat reign, to heal the breaches, or show 
 the wounds, secundum artum^ (according to art.) Subsequent events, all 
 things considered, Van Buren’s downfall, Harrison's exit, and Tyler’s self- 
 lufBcient turn to the whole, go to shew, as a Chaldean might exclaim: Be- 
 r^ etki eliuh beshmayfiuh gauhfih rauz6en: (Certainly there is a Qod in 
 heaven to reveal secrets. 
 
 So honest man can doubt for a moment, but the glory of American liber, 
 ty, is on the wane; arid, that calamity and confusion will sooner or later, 
 destroy the peace of the people. Speculators will urge a national bank as a 
 savior of credit and comfort. A hireling py^eudo priesthood will plausibly 
 push abolition doctrines and doings, and “ lAman rights,” into Congress and 
 into every otner place, where conquest smells of fame, or opposition swells 
 to popularity. Democracy, Whigery and Cliquery, will attract their ele- 
 ments and foment divisions among the people, to accomplish fancied schemes 
 and accumulate power, while poverty driven to despair, like hunger forcing 
 its way through a wall, will break through the statutes of men, to save life, 
 and mend the orcach in prison glooms. 
 
 A still higher grade, of what the “ nobility of nations” call “great men,” 
 will dally with all rights in order to smuggle a fortune at “ one fell swoop:” 
 mortgage Texas, possess Oregon, and claim all the unsettled regions of the 
 world for hunting and trapping; and should a humble honest man, red, black, 
 or white, exhibit a better title, these gentry have only to clothe the judge 
 with richer ermine, and spangle the lawyer’s fingers with finer rings, to 
 have the judgment of his peers, and the honor of his lords, os a pattern of 
 honesty, virtue and humanity, while the motto hangs on hii nation’s escutch- 
 eon: ^ Every man has his price P"* 
 
 Now, oh! people! people! turn unto the Lord and live; and reform this 
 nation. Frustrate ihe designs of wicked men. Reduce Congress at least 
 one half. Two Senators from a state and two members to u mtllion of popu- 
 
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 latioDjWill do more business than the army that now occupy iho halls of the 
 National Legislature. Pay them two dollars and their board per diem; (ex- 
 cept Sundays,) that is more than the farmer gets, and he lives honestly. Cur- 
 tail the offices of government in pay, number, and power, for the Philistine 
 I6rds have shorn our nation of its goodly locks in the lop of Delilah. 
 
 Petition your state legislatures to pardon every convict in their several 
 penitentiaries: blessing them as they go, and saying to them in the name of the 
 Lord, go thy way and sin no rr.ore* Advise your legislators when they make 
 laws for larceny, burglary or any felony, to make the penalty applicable to 
 work upon. roads, public works, or any place where the culprit can be taught 
 more wisdom and more virtue ; and become more enlightened. Rigor and 
 seclusion will never do as much to reform the propensities of man, as reason 
 and friendship. Murder only can claim confinement or death. Let the pen- 
 itentiaries be turned into seminaries of learning, w’hero iut lligence, like tho 
 angels of heaven, would banish such fragments of b." - 'm: Imprison- 
 ment for debt is a meaner practice than the savage ■**: 'dth all his fa- 
 
 rocity. “Amor vincit omnia.” Ivove conquers a’m 
 
 Petition also, ye goodly inhabitants of the slave state?, your legislators to 
 hbolish slavery by the year 1850, or now, and - the abolitionist from re- 
 proach and ruin, infamy and shame. Pray fo pay every man a 
 
 reasonable pricq for his slaves out of the suipi zcvt.iue arising from the 
 sale of public lands, and from the deduction of pay from the members of Con-* 
 
 f ress. Break off the shackles from the poor black man, and hire him to la- 
 or like other human beings; for “ an hour of virtuous liberty on earth, is 
 worth a whole eternity of bondage!” Abolish the practice in the army and 
 navy of trying men by court martial for desertion; if a soldier or marine 
 runs away, send him his wages, with this instruction, that his country will 
 never trust him again; he has forfeited his honor. Make HONOH th« 
 standard with all men: be sure that good is rendered for evil in all cases: 
 find the whole nation, like a kingdom of kings and priests, will rise up in right- 
 eousness: and be respected as wise and worthy on earih: and as just and 
 hoi V for heaven, by Jehovah the author of perfection. More economy in 
 the national and state governments, would make less taxes among the people: 
 more equality through the cities, towns and country, would make less dis- 
 tinction among the people; and more honesty and familiarity in ‘societies, 
 would make less hypocrisy and flattery in all branches ol the community; 
 and open, frank, candid, decorum to all nen, in this boasted land of liberty, 
 would beget esteem, confidence, union and love; and the neighbor from any 
 State, or from any country, of whatever color, clime or tongue, could rejoice 
 when he puts his foot on the sacred soil of freedom, and exclaim: tho very 
 name of “ American^ is fraught with friendship! Oh! then, create confidence! 
 restore freedom! break down slavery! banish imprisonment for debt, and be 
 in love, fellowship and peace with all the world! Remonriber that hone.sty is 
 not subject to law: the law was made for transgressors: wherefore a Dutch'! 
 nriaB might exclaim; ^in ehrlicher name isi besser als Reichthum, (a good 
 name is better than riches.) 
 
 For the accommodation of the people in every state and territory, let Cofr« 
 gress shew .their wisdom by granting a national bank, with branches in each 
 state and territory, where the capital stock shall be held by the nation for 
 the mother bank; and by the slates and territories, for the branohea: and 
 whose officers and director? shall be elected yearly by the people with wages 
 
 
t >0] 
 
 ft‘t the rate of two dollars per day for iervicei: which teveral banks shall ner- 
 er ikue any more bills than the amount of capital stock in her vaults and the 
 interest. The nett gain of the mother bank shall be applied to the national 
 revenue, and that of the branches to the states and territories* revenues. 
 And the bills shall be par throughout the nation, which will mercifully cure 
 that fatal disorder know in cities, as brokeiage; and leave the people's mo- 
 ney in their own pockets. 
 
 Give every man his constitutional frjsedom, and the president iull power 
 to send an army to suppress mobs; and the states authority to repeal ahd im'« 
 pugn that relic of folly, which makes it necessary for the governor of a state 
 to make the demand of the president for troops, in cases of invasion or rebell- 
 ion The governor himself may be a mobber and, instead of being punished, 
 as he should be for murder and treason, he may destroy the very lives, rights, 
 and property ht should protect. Like the good Samaritan, send every law- 
 yer as soon as he repents and obeys the ordinances of heaven, to preach the 
 gospel to the destitute, without purse or scrip, pouring in the oil and the wine; 
 a learned priesthood is certainly more honorable than “c/n hireling clergy '' 
 
 As to the contiguous territories to the United States, wisdom would direct 
 no tangling alliance; Oregon belongs to this government honorably, and 
 when we have the red man’s consent, let the union spread from the east to 
 the west sea; and if Texas petitions Congress to be adopted among the sons 
 of liberty, give her the right hand of fellowship; and refuse not the same 
 friendly grip to Canada and Mexico: and when the light arm of freemen is 
 stretched out in the character of a navy, for the protection of rights, com- 
 merce and honor, let the iron eyes of power, watch from Maine to Mexico, 
 and from California to Columbia; thus may union be strengthened, and for- 
 eign speculation prevented from opposing broadside to broadside. 
 
 Seventy years have done much for this goodly land; they have burst the 
 chains of oppression and monarchy; and multiplied its inhabitants from two 
 to twenty millions; with a proportionate share of knowledge: keen enough to 
 circumnavigate the globe; draw the lightning from the clouds*; and cope 
 with all the crowned heads of the world. 
 
 Then why 1 Oh! why! will a once flourishing people not arise,* phcenU 
 like, over the cinders of Martin Van Buren’s pow'er; and over the sinking 
 fragments and smoking ruins of other catamount politicians; and over the 
 wind-falls of Benton, Calhoun, Clay, Wright, and a caravan of other equally 
 uniortunate law doctors, and cheerfully help to spread a plaster and bind up 
 hurnt^ bleeding wounds a sore but blessed country? The southern 
 people are hospitable and noble: they will help to rid so free a country of cv^ 
 ery vestige of slavery, when ever they are assured of an equivalent mr theif 
 property. The country will be full of money and confidence, when a na-* 
 tional bank of twenty millions, and a state bank in every state, with a mill- 
 ion or more, gives a tone to monetary matters, and make a circulating medi- 
 um as valuable in the purses of a whole community, as in the coffers of a 
 speculating banker or broker. 
 
 The people may have faults but they never should be trifled with. 1 think 
 Mr. Pitt’s quotation in the British Parliament of Mr. Prior’s couplet for the 
 husband and wife, to apply to the course which the king and ministry of Eng- 
 land should pursue to the then colonies, of the now United States, might be 
 
,[ " 3 
 
 a genuine rule of action for some of the breath made men in high placet, te 
 uift towards the. posterity of that noble daring people: 
 
 ** fie to her faults a little blindi 
 ** fie to her rirtuea very kind.’’ 
 
 We have had democratic^ presidents: whig presidents; a pseudo demo- 
 cratic whig president; and now it is time to have a prendent of the United 
 States; apd let the people of the whole union, like th^ inflexible Romans, 
 whenever they fnd a made by a capdid‘'tte, that •' not ^aciised as an 
 officer, hurl the miserable sycophant from his exaltatic , as God did Nebu- 
 chadnezzar, to crop the grass of the field, with a beasi’s heart among the 
 jcattle. 
 
 Mr. Van Buren said in his inaugural address, that he went “into the pres- 
 ^ idential chair the inflexible and uncompromising opponent of every attempt, 
 “ on the part of Congress, to abolish slavery in the District of Columbia, a- 
 “ gainst the wishes ot the slave holding states; and also with a determination 
 “ equally decided to resist the slightest interference with it in the states where 
 it exists.’Toor little Matty made this rhapsodical sweep with the fact before 
 his eyes, that the state of New-York, his native state, had abolished slavery, 
 without a struggle or a groan. Great God, how independent! From hence- 
 forth slavery is tolerated where it exists: constitution or no constitution; peo- 
 ple or no people; right or wrong; vox Matti; vox Diaboli: “the voice of Mat- 
 ty” — ^“the voice of the devil;-’ and peradventure, his great “Sub-Treasury” 
 scheme was a piece of the same mind: but the mai and lus measures have such 
 a stricking resemblance to the anecdote of the Welchman and his cart-tongue, 
 that, when the constitution was so long that it allowed slavery at the capitol of a 
 free people, it could not be cut oflT; but when it was so short that it needed a 
 Sub-Treasury^ to save the funds of the nation, it could be spliced! Oh, granny, 
 granny, what a long tail our puss has got! As a Greek might say, hysteron 
 proteron: the cart before the horse: but his mighty whisk through the great 
 national fire, for the presidential chesnuts, burnt the locks of his glory wiO^ 
 the blare of his folly! 
 
 In the United States the people are the government; and their united voice 
 )8 the only sovereign that should rule; the only power that should be obey- 
 ed; and the only gentlemen that should be honored; at home and abroad; on 
 the land and on the sea: Wherefore, were I the president of the Unit ^ 
 jStates, by the voice of a virtuous people, I would honor the old paths of the 
 venerated fathers of freedom: I would walk in the tracks of the illustrious 
 patriots, who carried the ark of the government upon their shoulders with 
 an eye single to the glory of the people* and when that people petitioned to 
 abolish slavery in tlio slave states, 1 would use all honorable means to have 
 their prayers granted: and give liberty to the captive; by paying the south- 
 ern gentleman a reasonable equivalent for his property, that the whole nation 
 might be free indeed! When the people petitioned for a national bank, T would 
 use my best endeavors to have their prayers answered, and establish one on 
 national principles to save taxes, ana make them the controllers of its ways 
 and means; and when the people petitioned to possess the teritory of Oregon 
 or any other contiguous teritory; I would lend the influence of a chief ma- 
 gistrate to grant so reasonable a request, that they might extend the mighty ef- 
 orti and enterprize of a free preople from the east to the west sea; and make 
 the wilderness blossom as the rose: and when a neighboring realm petioned 
 
 LIBRARY 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF iLtINOIS 
 AT URBANA- CHAMPAIGN 
 
[ 19 ] 
 
 to join the union of the lonj of liberty/^ my voice would be, cdffte: yea ctAsVe 
 Texas: come Mexico; come Canada; and come all the Vorld — fel us be 
 brethren: let us be one great family; and let there be universal peace. Abol- 
 ish the cruer custom of prisons, (except certain cases,) penetentiaries, and 
 court-martials for desertion; and let reason and friendship reign over the ruins 
 of ignorance and barbanty; yea I would, as the universal friend of man, open 
 the prisons; open the eyes, ;;'en the ears and open the hearts of all people, 
 to behold and enjoy tree i , unadulterated freedom: and God, who' onoe 
 cleansed the violence of tr.'> oirth with a flood; whose Son laid down his life 
 for the salvation of all his father gave him out of the world; and who has pro- 
 mised that he will come and purify the world a^in with fire in the last days^ 
 should be supplicated by me for the good of all people. , ; 
 
 With the highest esteem, 
 
 I am a friend of virtue, 
 and of the peopl 
 
 people, 
 
 Joseph smith. 
 
 Nauvoo, Illinois, February 7, 1844. 
 
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