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Show 4-t4 INAUG UHAL A ND ll'AltEWELL ADVHE:3~ES. own n.m ctl(lm ent, has n. jm;t claim to your conGd0ncc ancl yont· , npport.. R espect for its nn thority, compl iance with its law., ucqui csccncc in its measu res, arc dut ics <'njoincd by the fundamental maxims of t rno liberty. The bnsis of onr pol itical system , is t.he right of the people to mnkc nnd to alt ct· th eir constitutions of o-ovcrnment ; hut the Consti tution, which at any time exists, t ill changed by an explicit !ttHl nnth entic act of the whole peo ple, is , act· dly oblig:tlory upon nJl. The very id ea of the power nucl the right of tho people to e ' ia.blish govel'rlmcllt, presnppo. es the duty of cv ·ry indi vidual to olJey the establi shed government. All olJslru ctious to t.hc execution of the law., all comhitwtions and associations, under whatever plan. ible chnraetc r, with the real de ·ign to direct, cont rol, co unt •met ot· awe the regul ar deliberation and ac ti on of the constituted au thori ties, are de 'lmctive to this fnnd omcntal principle, and of fatal tend ency. 'rhey serve to organi z.e faction, to give it an artificial and extraordin ary foree, to put, in the place of the delegated will of the notion, the wi ll or 1t pn.rty, often a small but artful and enterprisiug minority of the communi ty ; and, according to the al ternate t riumpl1s of di!Tercnt parties, to make the public admi nistration tho mirror of t he ill-concerte<.l and incongruous project~ of fal'lion, ruther than the organ of consistent and wholesome pl ans, digested by common counsel s, and modified by mntn al interests. IIowcver combinations or associations of the above description may now and then answer popular ends, they are likely, in the course of time and thin gs, to become potent eng- in es by which cunning, ambitious, and unprincipled men wi II be enabled to subvert the power of the people, and to nsnrp for th emselves the reins of government ; destroy ing, afte rwards, the very engines which had lifted them to unjust dominion. Towards the preservation of your government, and tho JNAUGURA L AXJ> F'AHE\VI•:LL ADDRESSES. 4.45 ermn.ncncy of yonr present lmppy stale, it is reqnisitr, not ~nly that you steadi ly di f.;conn t('nnncc in cgnlar op positions to ils acknowledged authority, but al.·o that yon resist with cnre the spirit of innovati on npon its principles, however 8 )ecious the pretcx1s. One method of assault may be to e~ect, in the forms of the Constitution, aiteration. which wi11 impair tho energy of the system, and thus to undermine what cannot be directly overth t·own. In all the changes to which yon mny lJc in vited, remember that time and hab it nrc at least as ncccs. at·y to fix t.hc t rue character of governments, as of other humnn insti Lntions ; that experience is the surest standard by which to t st the real tendency of the existing Constitution of a coun try ; thai facility in changes, n pon the credit of mere hypothesis and opinion, expo cs to per petual change, from the endless variety of hypothesis and opinion; and remember, especially, that for the cfn cicnt management of yonr common interests, in a conn try so extrnsivc ns onrs, a governlllcnt of as tn u('h vigor as is consistent with the perfect security of liberty, is indispensable. L iberLy itself will find in such a government, with powers properly <listributcd and adjnsted, its surest guardian. I t is, ind eed, lilUe else than a nam , where the government i t oo feeble to withstand the enterprises of faction, to con fine each member of the socict y within the limits prescribed by the laws, and to main tain u.ll in the secure aml tranquil enjoyment of the rights of person and property. I have already in timated to you the danger of parties in the Slate, with par ticular reference to the foundin rr of them on geographical dL"criminations. !.Jot me now take a more comprehen. ive view, and warn yon, in the most solemn manner, again. t the bancfni effects of the spirit of party generally. This spiri t, unfor tunately, is inseparable from our natnre, havin~ its root in the strongest passions of the human mind. |