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Show 442 INAUGUHAL AN1J FAHE\VELL ADDRESSES. nffiiet neighboring eou11trics, not tied together by the same government; which their own rivalships alone would be sufficient to proch~cc, .but which opp? itc foreign allianccR, attachments, and mtngues, would stimulate and imbilter. Ilcncc, Jikewi e, they will n void the uccc, i ty of th ose overgrown military establishment , which, und er any forru of gorernmcnt, arc inan picious to liberty, ancl which are to be regarded as particularly hostile to rcpublicull lib 't'ty. in this sense it is that your union ought to be cousi<1rrod 1; 8 a main prop of your liberty, and that the love of oue onght to endear to you the preservation of the other. 'l'hese considerations speak a persuasive language to every rcflectincr and virtuous mind, and exhil>it the continuance of the Union as a primary object of' patriotic desire. Is there a doubt, whether a common government can embrace so large a sphere? Let experience solve it. To liRten to mere speculation, in such a case, · were criminal. '"' e are authorized to hope, that a proper organization of the whole with the auxiliary agency of governments for the rcspcctiv~ ~ubdivisious, will afford a happy issue to the experiment. It is well worth a fair and full experiment. "\Vith such powerful and obvious motives to Uuio11, affecting all parts of our country, while experience shall not have demonstrated its impracticability, there will always be reason to distrust the patriotism of those, who, in any quarter, may endeav0r to weaken it51 bands. . In contemplating the causes which may disturb onr Union, 1t occurs, as a matter of erious concern, that any gronnd should have been fu~nishcd for characterizing parti es by geocrraphical d i. criminations-N orthern and SouthernAtlantic and Western : whence de igning men may endeavor to excite a br.Jief that there is a real difference of local inter<~ 'ts and views. One of the expedients of party to aequirC~ influence within particular di. tricts, is to misrepresent thr. opinion:s and aims of otl1er districts. You cannot sbielrl INAUGURAL AND FAUEWELL ADDRESSES. 413 ourselves too much against the j ealomdcs Ann henrt-born~ 1gs which spring from th e, c mi Tcprescn tations ; LlH'y tend to reudcr alien to each other those who ought to be bonncl to.gcther by fraternal affection. The inhabitant of our western country have lately had a useful les, on on t his head; they have seen in the negotiation by the Exccutivr, nnd in the unanimous ratification by the Senate, of th<: treaty with Spain, and ir~ tho nnivcrsal :;;atisf'action at thnl event througuout the United Slates, a deci ·ive proof how unfounded were the suspiciotts propa gated among them, u!' n policy in the general government, and in the A tl antie States, unfriendly to their interests in regard to the l\li ~. issippi: they have been witnes. cs to the formation of two treaties-that with Great Britain, and that with Spain, which secures to them everything they could desire in reflpect to ou1· foreign rclationR, towards conflrming their prosperity. Will it not be their wisdom to rely for the preservation of these advantages on the Union by which they were procured? Will they not henceforth be deaf to those advisers, if such there are, who would sever them from their brethren, and connect them with aliens ? To. the c!licacy and permanency of your Union, a government for the whole is indispensable. No alliance, however strict, between the parts, can be an adequate sub ti lute ; t.hey must inevitably experience the infractions and in te rruptions which all alliances, in all time, have experienced. Sensible of this Momentous truth, you have improved upou your flrst essay, by the adoption of a Constitution .or. government better calculated than your former for an mt1mate Union, and for the efficacious managrme11t of your common concerns. This government, the oifspring of our own choice uninfluenced and unawed, adopted upon full invcs- ' . . tign.tion and mature deliberation, completely free m 1ts principles, in the distribution of its powers, uniting security with energy, ani containing within itself a provision for its |
