Part 21 (2/2)

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, , and commercial interests It was evident, that thenceforward, instead of our enjoying the advantages peculiar to neutrality in ti 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 co trade of this country were, therefore, certain to become the subjects of new and powerful competition, if not to receive sudden and violent checks It sees, to turn our thoughts inwards; to search out the hitherto unexplored resources of our own country; to find, if we could, new diversifications of industry and 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 , of course, in the natural productions proper to each, it was of the highest i free and cheap intercourse between those distant parts, thereby bringing the rawin 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 govern roads and canals, in conjunction with the enterprise of individuals or of states I a those who have held the opinion, that, if any object of that kind be of general and national iovernh I adreat care and discretion

Congress has power to _regulate_ coht have been thought to be the literal interpretation of these terms, we know the construction to have been, froress, and by the very ulation of commerce comprehended such measures as were necessary for its support, its improvement, its advancement, and justified the expenditure of money for such purposes as the construction of piers, beacons, and light-houses, and the clearing out of harbors

Instances of this sort, in the application of the general revenues, have been frequent, froovernment As the same power, precisely, exists in relation to internal as to external trade, it was not easy to see why like expenditures ht not be justified, when ions of the West are penetrated by rivers, to which those of Europe are but as rills and brooks But the navigation of these noble streain of one third of the States of the Union, is obstructed by obstacles, capable of being removed, and yet not likely to be reovernment Was this a justifiable object of expenditure froht 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 reader intercourse of water conveyance But these vast lakes required, also, harbors, and light-houses, 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 soh these same public lands, the local authorities have prepared to carry expensive canals, for the general benefit of the country Soreat expense, and have subjected the States, whose enterprising spirit has begun and carried thee debts and heavy taxation The lands of the United States, being exempted fro to the United States, therefore, as a great landed proprietor, essentially benefited by these i 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 iht seem The breakwater in the Delaware, useful to Philadelphia, is useful also to all the shi+p-owners in the United States, and indeed to all interested in coreat branch, the coastwise commerce If the mouths of the Southern rivers be deepened and i cities are benefited, but so also are the shi+ps which visit them; and if the Mississippi and Ohio be rendered reattheir shores are the more readily and cheaply approached by the products of the factories and fisheries of New England

It is overnment of the United States cannot beit on principles as wide and broad as the country over which it extends I mean, of course, no extension of the pohich it confers; but I speak of the spirit hich those powers should be exercised If there be any doubts, whether soheld together under this Constitution, there is no doubt in ether by any narrow, local, or selfish systeislation 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 oelfare protected and advanced by it

While the eastern frontier is defended by fortifications, its harbors iht and just that the region beyond the Alleghanies should receive fair consideration and equal attention, in any object of public i to itself, and within the proper power of the governeneral views by which I have been governed on questions of this kind; and I trust they are such as thisdoes not disapprove

I would not trespass further upon your attention, if I did not feel it my duty to say a feords on the condition of public affairs under another aspect We are on the eve of a new election of President; and the ht lead a stranger to suppose that the chief ainst the country, had 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 alar, inasovernovernment, but to rest it on other causes, and those mostly personal

There is a co the most opposite opinions, both on the constitutional powers of the governin 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 le exception, which has not been strenuously maintained by many, or by some, of those who all cooperate, nevertheless, in pursuit of the object which I have mentioned This is but one of many proofs that the opposition does not rest on the principle of disapprobation of the overnht be adduced easily A reround of objection to the aded in one place, its precise opposite is pressed in another Pennsylvania and South Carolina, for exae 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 ht to be a change In the other, that syste ruinous, is represented as salutary, as necessary, as indispensable But the administration is declared to be but half in earnest in supporting it, and for that reason there ought to be a change

Reflecting men have always supposed, that, if there were a weak point in the Federal Constitution, it was in the provision for the exercise of the executive power And this, perhaps, may be considered as rendered mentation of the number of the States We must expect that there will often be, as there was on the last election, several candidates for the Presidency All but one, of course, must be disappointed; and if the friends of all such, however otherwise divided, are iainst him who is elected, little is ever to be expected but e triumph over the love of country, and party and faction usurp the place of wisdom and patriotism If the contest for the executive power is thus to be renewed every four years; if it is to be conducted as the present has been conducted; and if every election is to be immediately followed, as the last was followed, by a proainst hier, that this great experiovern the youngest may behold its catastrophe

It cannot have escaped the notice of any gentleman present, that, in the course of the controversy, pains have been taken to affect the character and the success of the present chiefodium towards that part of the country in which he was born and to which he belongs Sneers, contuentleentleland I aland s, when they coht to be considered respectable, with a feeling of just indignation; and when proceeding fro ourselves who can be induced, by any races the New England land father who bred and nurtured hiland ats, now so unworthily eainst his country Persons not known till yesterday, and having little chance of being remembered beyond to-morrow, have affected to draw a distinction between the patriot States and the States of New England; assigning the last to the present President, and the rest to his rival I do not wonder, Sir, at the indignation and scorn which I perceive the recital of this injustice produces here Nothing else was to be expected Faneuil Hall is not a place where one is expected to hear with indifference that New England is not to be counted a the patriot States The patriot States! What State was it, Sir, that was patriotic when patriotisreat drama of the Revolution open?

Where, but on the soil of Massachusetts, was the first blood poured out in the cause of liberty and independence? Where, sooner than here, where earlier than within the walls which now surround us, was patriotiser houses and homes, and wives and children, and to be ready also to pay for the reputation of patriotism by the sacrifice of blood and of life?

Not farther to refer to her Revolutionary land did her part, and overn effect to the measures and the policy of the first President Where, Sir, did the ton find the eneral principles of his policy most widely spread, and most deeply seated? If, in subsequent periods, different opinions have been held by different portions of her people, New England has, nevertheless, been always obedient to the laws, even when she most severely felt their pressure, and most conscientiously doubted or disbelieved their propriety Every great and permanent institution of the country, intended for defence or for improvement, has met her support And if we look to recentto the community, and especially some portions of it, we see proofs of the same steady and liberal policy It ht to be said, and ought to be known, that no one ress, or could have been carried, but by the aid of New England votes It is for those most deeply interested in subjects of that sort to consider in season, how far the continuance of the same aid is necessary for the further prosecution of the saovernland has as little to hope or expect as any part of the country She has hitherto supported them upon principle, and fros and the beneficence of the government And, Sir, I confidently believe that those most concerned in the success of these measures feel towards her respect and friendshi+p They feel that she has acted fairly and liberally, wholly uninfluenced by selfish or sinister ht they saw, an object to be attained by exciting dislike and odiuland, are not likely to find quite so favorable an audience as they have expected It will not go for quite so e of the President, that he is a native of Massachusetts Nothing is wanting but that we ourselves should entertain a proper feeling on this subject, and act with a just regard to our own rights and our own duties If I could collect around land, or if I could causeevery one of her pleasant streams, in the exercise of true filial affection, I would say to her, in the language of the great master of the maxims of life and conduct,

”This above all,--to thine own self be true, And it ht the day, Thou canst not then be false to anyto repeat my thanks for the kindness which has been manifested towardstheir good wishes:--

The City of Boston Prosperity to all her interests, and happiness to all her citizens

FOOTNOTES

[85] The subject referred to is the tariff law of 1828 For a fuller statement of the considerations which influenced the vote of Mr

Webster on that subject, see his speech, in a subsequent volume of this collection, delivered in the Senate of the United States on the 9th of May, 1828

[86] Hon Nathaniel Silsbee

[87] Hon Benjamin Gorham

THE BOSTON MECHANICS' INStitUTION[88]