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government, foreign and domestic, are vast, and various, and complicated. They require from those who would aspire to take a leading part in them an amount, a variety, and an accuracy of information, which even if the adequate capacity were not wanting, are not easily attained, by one whose attention is necessarily mainly devoted to the duties of an active and laborious profession. For this as well as many other reasons, I am conscious of having discharged my public duties, in a manner no way entitling them to the degree of favor which has now been manifested.

And this manifestation of favor and regard is the more especially to be referred to the candor and kindness of the meeting, on this occasion, since it is well known, that in a recent instance, and in regard to an important measure, I have felt it my duty to give a vote, in respect to the expediency and propriety of which considerable difference of opinion exists, between persons equally entitled to my regard and confidence.-The candid interpretation which has been given to that vote, by those who disapproved it, and the assembling together here, for the purpose of this occasion, of those who felt pain, as well as those who felt pleasure, at the success of the measure for which the vote was given, afford ample proof, how far unsuspected uprightness of intention, and the exercise of an independent judgment may be respected, even by those who differ from the results to which that exercise of judgment has arrived. There is no class of the community for whose interests I have ever cherished a more sincere regard, than that on whose pursuits some parts of the measure alluded to bears with great severity. They are satisfied, I hope, that in supporting a measure in any degree injurious to them, I must have been governed by other paramount reasons, satisfactory to my own conscience; and that the blow, inflicted on their interests, was felt by me almost as painfully and heavily, as it could be by those on whom it immediately fell. I am not now about to enter into the reason of that vote, or to explain the necessity under which I found myself placed by a most strange and unprecedented manner of legislation, of taking the evil of a public measure for the sake of its good; the good and the bad provisions relating to different subjects, having not the slightest connexion with each other, yet yoked together, and kept together, for reasons and purposes which I need not state, as they have been boldly avowed, and are now before the public.

It was my misfortune, sir, on that occasion to differ from my most estimable and worthy colleague. And yet probably our difference was not so broad as it might seem. We both saw, in the measure, something to approve, and something to disapprove. If it could have been left to us to mould and to frame it according to our opinions of what the good of the country required, there would have been no diversity of judgment between us, as to what should have been retained and what rejected. The only difference was, when the measure had assumed its final shape, whether the good it contained so far preponderated over its acknowledged evil, as to justify the reception and support of the whole together. On a point of this sort, and under circumstances such as those in which we were placed, it is not strange that different minds should incline different ways. It gives me great pleasure to bear testimony to the constancy, the intelligence

and the conscious fidelity with which my colleague discharged his public duty, in reference to this subject. I am happy also to have the opportunity of saying, that if the bill had been presented to me, in the form it was when it received a negative vote from the distinguished gentleman who represents this District, my own opinion of it would have entirely concurred with his, and I should have voted in the same manner.

The meeting will indulge me with one further remark, before parting from this subject. It is only the suggestion, that in the place I occupied I was one of the Representatives of the whole Commonwealth. I was not at liberty to look exclusively to the interests of the District in which I live, and which I have heretofore had the high honor of representing. I was to extend my view from Barnstable to Berkshire; to comprehend in it a proper regard for all interests, and a proper respect for all opinions. Looking to the aggregate of all the interests of the Commonwealth, and regarding the general current of opinion, so far as that was properly to be respected, I saw—at least I thought I saw-my duty to lie in the path which I pursued. The measure is adopted. Its consequences, for good or evil, must be left to the results of experience. In the meantime, I refer the propriety of the vote which I gave, with entire submission, and with the utmost cheerfulness also, to the judgment of the good people of the Commonwealth.

On some other subjects, Mr. President, I had the good fortune to act in perfect unison with my colleague, and with every Representative of the State. On one, especially, the success of which, I am sure, must have gratified every one who hears me. I could not, sir, have met this meeting here, I could not have raised my voice in Faneuil Hall-you would have awed me down-if you had not, the pictures of Patriots which adorn these walls would have frowned me into silence, if I had refused either my vote or my voice to the cause of the officers and soldiers of the revolutionary army. That measure, mixed up of justice, and charity, and mercy, is at last accomplished. The survivors, among those who fought our revolutionary battles, under an engagement to see the contest through, are at length provided for, not sumptuously, not extravagantly, but in a manner to place them, in their old age, beyond the reach of absolute want. Solace, also, has been administered to their feelings, as well as to their necessities. They are not left to count their scars, or to experience the pain of wounds, inflicted half a century ago, in their country's service, without some token, that they are yet held in grateful remembrance-a gratifying proof of respect for the services of their youth and manhood quickens the pulsations of patriotism, in veteran bosoms; and as they may now live, beyond the reach of absolute want, so they will have the pleasure of closing life, when that time for closing it shall come, which must come, with the happy consciousness of meritorious services, gratefully recompensed.

Another subject, now becoming exceedingly interesting, was, in various forms, presented to Congress at the last session; and in regard to which, I believe, there is, substantially, a general union of opinion among the members from this Commonwealth. I mean what is commonly called Internal Improvements. The great and

growing importance of this subject may, I hope, justify a few remarks, relative to it, on the present occasion.

It was evident to all persons of much observation, at the close of the late war, that the condition and prospects of the United States had become essentially changed, in regard to sundry great interests of the country. Almost from the commencement of the government, down near to the commencement of that war, the United States had occupied a position of singular and extraordinary advantage. They had been at peace, while the powers of Europe had been at war. The harvest of neutrality had been to them rich and ample; and they had reaped it with skill and diligence. Their agriculture and commerce had both felt sensibly, the benefit arising from the existing state of the world. Bread was raised for those whose hands were otherwise employed than in the cultivation of the field, and the seas were navigated, for account of such, as being belligerents, could not safely navigate them for themselves. These opportunities for useful employment were all seized and enjoyed, by the enterprise of the country; and a high degree of prosperity was the natural result. But with general peace, a new state of things arose. The European states at once turned their own attention to the pursuits, proper for their new situation, and sought to extend their own agricultural, manufacturing, and commercial interests. It was evident, that thenceforward, instead of enjoying the advantages peculiar to neutrality, in times of war, a general competition would spring up, and nothing was to be expected without a struggle. Other nations would now raise their own bread, and as far as possible, transport their own commodities; and the export trade, and the carrying trade of this country, were, therefore, certain to receive new and powerful competition, if not sudden and violent checks. It seemed reasonable, therefore, in this state of things, to turn our thoughts inwards, to explore the hitherto unexplored resourses of our own country, to find out, if we could, new diversifications of industry, new subjects for the application of labor at home. It was fit to consider how far home productions could, properly, be made to furnish activity to home supply; and since the country stretched over so many parallels of latitude and longitude, abounding, of course, in the natural productions proper to each, it was of the highest importance to inquire what means existed of establishing free and cheap intercourse, between those parts, thereby bringing the raw material, abounding in one, under the action of the productive labor which was found in another. Roads and Canals, therefore, were seen to be of the first consequence. And then the interesting question arose; how far it was constitutionally lawful, and how far expedient, for the general government to give aid and succour to the business of making roads and canals, in conjunction with individual enterprise, or State undertakings. I am among those who have held the opinion that if any object of that kind be of general and national importance, it is within the scope of the powers of the government; though I admit it to be a power which should be exercised with very great care and discretion. Congress has power to regulate commerce, both internal and external; and whatever might have been thought to be the literal interpretation of these terms, we know the construction to have been,

from the very first assembling of Congress, and by the very men who framed the Constitution, that the regulation of commerce comprehended such measures as were necessary for its support, its improvement, its advancement; and justified such expenditures as Piers, Beacons, and Lighthouses, and the clearing out of harbours required. Instances of this sort, in the application of the general revenues, have been frequent, from the commencement of the government. As the same power, precisely, exists in relation to internal as to external trade, it was not easy to see why like expenditures might not be justified, when made on internal objects. The vast regions of the West are penetrated by rivers, to which those of Europe are but as rills and brooks.-But the navigation of these noble streams, washing, as they do, the margin of one third of the States of the Union, was obstructed by obstacles, capable of being removed, and yet not likely to be removed, but by the power of the general government. Was this a justifiable object of expenditure from the national treasury? Without hesitation, I have thought it was. A vast chain of lakes, if it be not more proper to call them a succession of inland seas, stretches into the deep interior of this northern part of the continent, as if kindly placed there by Providence to break the continuity of the land, and afford the easier and readier intercourse of water conveyance.-But these vast lakes required, also, harbours, and lights, and breakwaters? And were these lawful objects of national legislation? To me, certainly, they have appeared to be such, as clearly as if they were on the Atlantic border.

In most of the new States of the West, the United States are yet proprietors of vast bodies of land. Through some of these States, and sometimes through these same public lands, the local authorities have prepared to carry expensive canals, for the general benefit of the country. Some of these undertakings have been attended with great expense, have subjected the States, where enterprising spirit has begun and carried them on, to large debts, and heavy taxation. The lands of the United States being exempted from all taxation, of course bear no part of this burden. Looking to the United States, therefore, as a great landed proprietor, essentially benefited by these improvements, I have felt no difficulty in voting for the appropriation of parts of these lands, as a reasonable contribution by the United States to these general objects.

Most of the subjects to which I have referred, are much less local, in their influence, and importance, than they might seem. The breakwater in the Delaware, useful to Philadelphia, is useful also to all the ship-owners in the United States, and indeed to all interested in commerce, especially that great branch, the coastwise commerce. If the mouths of the southern rivers be deepened and improved, the neighbouring cities are benefited, but so also are the ships which visit them; and if the Mississippi and Ohio be rendered more safe for navigation, the great markets of consumption along their shores are the more readily and cheaply approached by the products of the Factories and the Fisheries of New England.

It is my opinion, Mr. President, that the present government cannot be maintained but by administering it on principles as wide and broad as the country over which it extends. I mean, of course, no

extension of the powers which it confers; but I speak of the spirit with which those powers should be exercised. If there be any doubts, whether so many republics, covering so great a portion of the globe, can be long held together under this Constitution, there is no doubt in my judgment, of the impossibility of so holding them together by any narrow, contracted, local, or selfish system of legislation. To render the Constitution perpetual, (which God grant it may be) it is necessary that its benefits should be practically felt, by all parts of the country, and all interests in the country. The East and the West, the North and the South, must all see their own welfare pro tected and advanced by it. While the eastern frontier is defended by fortifications, its harbours improved, and commerce defended by a naval force, it is right and just that the region beyond the Alleghany should receive fair consideration and equal attention, in any object of public improvement, interesting to itself, and within the proper power of the government.-These, sir, are, in brief, the general views by which I have been governed, on questions of this kind; and I trust they are such as this meeting does not disapprove.

I would not trespass farther upon your attention, if I did not feel it my duty to say a few words on the condition of public affairs under another aspect. We are on the eve of a new election for President; and the manner in which the existing administration is attacked might lead a stranger to suppose, that the Chief Magistrate had committed some flagrant offence against the country, threatened to overturn its liberties, or establish a military usurpation. On a former occasion I have, in this place, expressed my opinion of the principle, upon which the opposition to the administration is founded; without any reference whatever to the person who stands as its apparent head, and who is intended by it to be placed in the chief executive chair. I think that principle exceedingly dangerous and alarming, inasmuch as it does not profess to found opposition to the government on the measures of government, but to rest it on other causes, and those mostly personal. There is a combination, or association, of persons holding the most opposite opinions, both on the constitutional powers of the government, and on the leading measures of public concern, and uniting in little, or in nothing, except the will to dislodge power from the hands in which the country has placed it. There has been no leading measure of the government, with perhaps a single exception, which has not been strenuously maintained by many, or by some of those, who co-operate, altogether, nevertheless, in pursuit of the object which I have mentioned. This is but one of many proofs that the opposition does not rest in the principle of disapprobation of the measures of government. Many other evidences of the same truth, might be adduced easily. A remarkable one is, that while one ground of objection to the administration is urged in one place, its precise opposite is pressed in another. Pennsylvania and South Carolina, for example, are not treated with the same reasons for a change of administration; but with flatly contradictory reasons. In one, the administration is represented as bent on a particular system, oppressive to that State, and which must ultimately ruin it; and for that reason there ought to be a change. In the other, that system, instead of being ruinous, is salutary, is necessary,

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