HUNTINGDON GLOBE EXTRA. PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE. Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and (louse of Representatives: ' •Throughont the year since our last meeting, the country has been eminently prosperous in all its material interests. The general health has been excellent, our harvests have been abundant and plenty smiles tiioroughout the land. Our commerce end manufactures have been prosecuted with energy and industry, and have yielded fair and ample returns. In short, uo nation inithe tide of time has ever presented a spectacle' of greater material prosperity than we have done until within a very recent period. Why is it, then, that discontent now so ex tensively prevails, and the Union of the States, which is the•so❑rce of all these blessings. is threatened with destruction? The long-con linue'd • and intemperate interference of the Northern people •with the question of slavery in the Southern States' has at length produced• its natural effects. • The different sections of the Union are now arrayed against each other, and the time has arrived, so much dreaded by the Father of his Country; when hostile geo graphical. parties have been formed. I have long foreseen and often forewarned my coms trymen•of .the now• impending danger. This does. not proceed Alolely from the claim on• the pert of Congress or the territorial legislature to exclude slavery from the Territories, nor from the efforts of different States to defeat the exe cution of the fugitive-slave law. All or any of these evils might have been endured by •the South withoutolanger to the Union, as others have been,) lic,:the hope that time and reflection' might•apply the remedy. The immediate peril arises not so much from these• causes as from the fact that the incessant and violent agitation of the slavery question throughout the North for the last quarter of a century; has at length produced its malign influence on the slaves, and inspired them with vague notions of free dom. • Hence a settee of security no longer exists around the family altar. This feeling of peace at home has given place to apprehensions of servile insurrection. Many a matron through out the South retires at night in dread of what may befall herself and her children before the morning. Should this apprehension of domes tic danger, whether real or imaginary, extend and intensify itself until it shall pervade the masses of the Southern people, then disunion will become inevitable. Self-preservation is the first law of nature, and has been implanted in the heart of man by his Creator for the wisest purpose; and no political union, however fraught with blessings and benefits in all other respects, can long continue, if the necessary consequence be to render the homes and fire sides of nearly half the parties to-it habitually and hopelessly insecure. Sooner or later the bonds of such a Union must be severed. It is my conviction that this fatal period has not yet arrived; and my prayer to God is-that Ile would preserve the Constitution and the . Union throughout all generations. But let us take warning in time, and remove the cause of danger. It cannot be denied that, for five and twenty years, the agitation at the North against slavery in the South has been incessant. In =1835 pictorial hand-bills, and inflammatory appeals, were ,circulated exten sively throughout the South, of a character to excite the passions of the slaves; and, in the language of General Jackson, "to stimulate them to insurrection, and produce all the hor rors of a servile war." This agitation has ever since been continued by the public press, by the proceedings of State and county conven tions, and by abolition sermons and lectures.— The time of Congress has been occupied in vio lent speeches ou this never-ending subject , and appeala in pamphlet aua other terms, en dorsed by distinguished names, have been sent forth from thisceutral point, and spread broad cast over the Union. How easy would it be for the American peo ple to settle the slavery question forever, and to restore peace and harmony, to this distracted country. They, and they alone, can do it. All that is necessary to accomplish the object, and all for which the slave States have ever contended, is to be letalone, and permitted to manage their domestic institutions in their own way. As sovereign States, they, and they alone, are re sponsible before Gotrand the world for the slavery existing among them. For this, the people of the North are not more responsible, and have no more right to interfere, than with similer institutions in Russia or in Brazil.— Upon their good sense and patriotic forbearance I confess I still greatly rely. Without their aid, it is beyond the power of fatty President, no matter what may be his own political pro clivities, to restore peace and harmony among the States. Wisely. dimited and restrained as is his power, under our Constitution and laws, he alone can accomplish but, little, for good or for evil, on such a momentous question. And this brings me to observe that the elec tion of any one of our fellow-citizens to the office of President does not of itself afford just cause for dissolving the Union. This is more especially true if his election has been effected by trmere plurality, and not a majority, of the people, and has resulted from transient, and temporary causes, which may probably never again occur. In order to justify a resort to revolutionary resistance, the Federal Govern ment must be guilty of "a deliberate, palpable and dangerous exercise" of powers not granted by the Constitution. The late Presidential election, how( Ter, has been held in strict con formity with its express provisions. Ilow, then, can the result justify a revolution to de stroy this very Constitution ? Reason, justice, a regard for the Constitution, all require that we shall wait for some overt and dangerous act on the part of the President elect before re sorting to such a remedy. It is said, however, that the antecedents of the President elect have been sufficient to jus tify the fears of the South that he will attempt to invade their constitutional rights. But are such apprehensions of contingent danger in the future sufficient to justify the immediate des truction of the noblest system of government ever devised by mortals? From the very nature of his office, and its high responsibili ties, he must necessarily be conservative. The stern duty of administering the vast and com plicated cOncerns of this Government affords in itself a guarantee that he will not attempt any violation of a clear constitutional right.— After all, he is no more than the chief execu tive officer of the Government. Ills province is not to make, but to execute, the laws ; and it is a remarkable fact in our history, that, not withstanding the repeated efforts of the anti • slavery party, no single act has ever passed Congress, unless we may possibly except the Missouri Compromise, impairing, in the slight est degree, the rights of the South to their property in slaves. And it may also be ob - served,'judging from present indications, that 'no probability exists of the passage of such an act, by a majority of both Houses, either in the present or the next Congress. Surely, under these circumstances, we ought to be re strained from present action by the precept of Him who spoke as never man spoke, that "suf ficient unto the day is the evil thereof." The day of evil may never come, unless we shall rashly bring it upon ourselves. It is alleged as one cause for immediate se session that the Southern States are denied equal rights with the other States in the com mon Territories. But by what authority are these denied? Not by Congress, which has never passed, and I believe never will pass, any act to exclude slavery from these Territo ries; and certainly not by the Supreme Court, which has solemnly decided that slaves are prori ty, anal, 10.41 all othe, prop e rly lrti e n t ight to tglio I hem hec to T., I tutee • hold thl.lll there 111/ ler the proted tuff of (Ito l'unstilution. So far, then, as Congress i. concerned, the objection is not to anything they have .11ready done, but to what they may do hereafter. It will surely be admmitted that this a rprehen sion of fdture danger is no gootireason for an immediate dissolution of the Union. It is true that the territorial legislature of Kansas, on the 231.1 of February, MOO, passed in great haste an act, over the veto of the Governor, declaring that slavery " is, and shall he. for ever prohibited in this Territory." Snell an act, however, plainly violating the' rights of properly, secured by the Constitution, will surelpho declared void by the judiciary When ever it shall be presented in a legal feral. Only three days after my inauguration the Supreme court, of the United States solemnly adjudged that, this power did not exist in a ter ritorial legislature. Yet such has been the fac tious temper of the times that the Correctness of this decision has been extensively impugned before the people, and the question has given rise.to, angry political conflicts threnghout the country. Those who have appealed from this judgment of our highest constitutional tribunal to popular ,assemblies would, if they could, invest. a territorial legislature with, power to annul the sacred rights of property. This power Congress is expressly forbidden by the Federal Constitution to exorcise. Every State legislature in the Union is forbidden by its own constitution to exercise it. It cannol be exer cised in any State except by the people in their highest sovereign capacity when framing or amt.:ruling their State constitution. In like man ner, it can only be exercised by the people of a Territory represented in a convention of del egates for the purpose of framing a constitution preparatory to admission as a State into the Union. Then, and not until then, a•o they invested with power to decide the question whether slavery shall or shall not exist within their limits. This ikan act of sovereign au thority, and not of subordinate territorial le gislation. Were it otherwise, then indeed would the equality of the States in the Terri tories be destroyed, and the rights of property .in slaves would depend, not upon the guaran tees of the Constitution, but upon the shifting majorities of an irresponsible territorial legis lature. Such a doctrine, from its intrinsic unsoundness, cannot long influence any con siderable portion of ear people, much le.s can it afford a good reason for a dissolution of the Union. • The most, palpable violations of constitu tional duty which have yet been committed consists in the acts of different Slate legisla tures to defeat, the execution of the fugitive slave law. It ought to be remembered, how ever, that for these acts, neither Congress nor any President can justly be held responsible. Having been passed in violation of the Fed eral Constitution, they are therefore null and void. All the courts, both State and national, before whom the question has arisen, have from the beginning declared the fugitive-slave law to be constitutional. The single exception is that of a State court in Wisconsin ; and this has not only been reversed by the proper ap pellate tribunal, but has met with such univer sal reprobation that there can be no danger front it as a precedent. The validity of this law has been established over and over again by the Supreme Court of the United, States with perfect unanimity. It is founded upon an express provision of the Constitution, re quiring that fugitive slaves who escape from service in one State to another shall Ice 'ole livered up" to their masters. Without this provision it is a well known historical fact that the Constitution itself could never have been adopted by the Convention. In one form or other under the acts of 1793 and 1850, both being substantially the same, the fugitive-slave law has been the law of the land from the days of Washington until the present moment. Here then, a clear case is presented, in which it will be the duty of the next President, as it has been_ my own, to _act .with xigordu, outing Lain built clue IlLlV "el./4”1, "AV - ing enactments of State legislatures. Should he fail in the performance of this high duty, he will then have manifested a disregard of the Constitution and laws, to the great injury of the people of nearly one-half of the States of the Union. But are we to presume in ad vance that he will thus violate his duty? This would be at war with every principle of jus tice and of Christian charity. Let its wait for the overt act. The fugitive-slave law has been carried into execution in every contested case since the commencement of the present admin istration; though often it is to be regretted, with great loss and inconvenience to the master, and with considerable expense to the govern ment. Let us trust that the State legislatures will repeal their unconstitutional and obnox ious enactments. Unless this, shall he done without unnecessary delay, it is impossible for any human power to save the Union. The Southern States, standing on the basis of the Constitution, have a right to demand this act of justice from the States of the North. Should it be refused, then the Constitution, to which all the States aro parties, will have been wilfully violated by one portion of them in a provision essential to the domestic security and happiness of the remainder. In that event, the injured States, after having first used ail peaceful and constitutional means to obtain redress, would he justified in revolutionary resistance to the Govern ment of the Union. I have purposely confined my remarks to revo lutionary resistance, because it hai been claimed within the last few years that any State, when ever this shall be its sovereign will and pleasure, may secede from the Union, in accordance with the Constitution, and without any violation of the Constitutional rights of the other members of the Confederacy. That as each became parties to the Union by the vote of its own people assembled in convention, so any one of them may retire from the Union in a similar manner by the vote of inch a convention. In order to justify secession as a constitutional remedy, it must be on the principle that the Fed eral Government is a mere voluntary association of States, to be dissolved at pleasure by any ono of the contracting parties. If this be so, the Con federacy is a rope of sand, to be penetrated and dissolved by the first adverse wave of public opin ion in any of the States. In this manner our thir ty-three States may resolve themselves into as many petty, jarring and hostile republics, each one retiring from the Union, without responsi bility, whenever any sudden excitement might im pel them to such a course. By this ',recess a Union might be entirely broken into fragments in a few weeks, which cost our forefathers many years of toil, privation and blood to establish. Such a principle is wholly inconsistent with the history as well as the character of the Federal Constitution. After it was framed, with the greatest deliberation and care, it was submitted to conventions of the people of the several States for ratification. Its provisions were discussed at length in these bodies, com posed of the first men of the country. Its op ponents contended that it conferred powers upon the Federal Government dangerous to the rights of the States, whilst its advocates main tabled that under a fair construction of the in- strument there was no foundation for such ap prehensions. ln that mighty struggle between the first intellects of this or any other country, it never occurred to any individual, either among its opponents or advocates, to assert, or even to intimate, that their etforts were all vain labor, because the moment that any State felt herself aggrieved she might secede front the Union. IVhat a crushing argument would this have proved against those who dreaded that the rights of the States would be endangered by the Constitution. The truth is, that it was not until many years after the origin of the Fede ral Government that such a proposition was first advanced. It was then met and refuted by the conclusive arguments of General Jack son, who in his message of pith January, 1833, transmitting the nullifying ordinance of South Carolina to Congress, employs the following language:—" The right of the people of a sin gle State to absolve themselves at will, and without the consent of the other States, from their most solemn obligations, and hazard th liberty and Imprinet,, of tht milliuss color, mug this Union csnitut. Ito achnouledged.- tillen MallUl ay is belie:tett to be tuttrly -,cpug nant both to the principles upon which ., the General Government is constituted tud to the Objects which it, was expressly formed to at tain. EIII It is not pretended that any clause in the Constitution gives countenance to mid a Cheery. it is altogether founded upon infemnoe, not from any language contained in the iistrume,at itself, but from the sovereign charader of the several States by which it was ratified. But it; itbcyond the power of a State,like an individual,. to yield a portion of its sovereign rights to secure the remainder? In the languege of Mr Madison, who has been called the father of the Constitution; "It was formed by the States— that is by the people in each of the .s,tates,act ing in their highest sovereign capacity ; and formed consequently by the same authority which formed the State Constitutions" "Nor is the Government of the United States, created by the Constitution, lease Gievernment in the strict sense of the term, within the sphere of its powers, than the governments created by the constitutions of the Rates are, within their several spheres. It is, kite them, organized into legislative, executive, and ju diciary departments. It operates, like them, directly on persons and things; and, Ike them, it has at command a physical force Mr execu ting the powers committed to it." It was intended to be perpetual, aid not to be annulled at the pleasure of any etc of the contracting parties. The old article! of con federation were entitled "Articles of Confede eration and Perpetual Union betveen the, States ;" and by the Blth article it is expressly declared that "the articles of this Confederation shall be inviolably observed by every State, and the Union shall be perpetual." The pre amble to the Constitution of the United States, having express reference to the articles of Con : federation, recites that it was establi Iteel order to form amore perfect union." And yet it is contended that this "more perfect intimp', does not include the emend.; attribute of per- petuity. But that the Union was designed to he per petual appears conclusively from Um nature and extent of thepowers conferred by the Con ntittttion, on the Federal Government. These ?powers embrace the very highest attributes of national sovereignty. They place both the sword and purse under its control. Congress has power to make war, and to make peace ; to raise and support, armies and navils, and to conclude treaties with foreign govertfments.— It is invested with the power to coin money, and to regulate the value thereof, awl to rep ' late oomnierce with foreign nations, and among the several States. It is not necessary to enu merate the other high powers which lave been conferred upon the Federal Government. In order to carry the enumerated powers into effect, Congress possesses the exclusive right to lay and collect' duties' on imports, and in common with the States to lay and collect all other taxes. But the Constitution has not only conferred these high powers upon Congress, ;but it has 'adopted effectual means to restrain the States from interfezing, with their exercise. For that purpose it has,in strong prohibitory language, expressively declared that "uo State Shall enter into any treaty, alliance or confederation; grant letters of marque and reprisal; coin money: emit bills of credit; make anything but , gold and saver coin a tender in payment of debts ; pass any hill of attainder, ex post facto law, or law impairing the obligation ot' contracts,' More over ]'without the consent of CongresS, no State shall lay any imposts or duties on any imports or exports, except what may be absolutely ne cesseary Mr executing its inspection laws;" and, if they exceed this amount, ihv excess shall belong to the United States. And " no State shall, without the eensentof Congress lay any duty of tonnage: kerp troops or ships of war,in thne of peace; enter into any agreement or compact with another State, or with a foreign power: or engage in war, unless ..ei.c„.4 1 11, • kIA.:I. as ifiti v atircid i rdS l iTfa . In order still further to secure the uninter rupted exercise of these high powers against State interposition, it is provided "that this Constitution and the laws of the United States which shall be made in pursuance thereof; and all treaties made, or which shall be made, un der the authority of the United States, shall be the supreme law of the land and the judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any thing in the constitution or laws of any State to the contrary notwithstanding. The solemn sanction of religion has been superadded to the obligations of official duty, and all senators and representatives of the United States, all members of State Legisla tures, and all executive and judicial °dicers, "both of the United States, and of the several States shall be bound by oath or affirmation to support this Constitution." In order tq carry into effect these powers, the Constitution has 'established a perfect Gov ernment in all its forms, Legislative, Execu tive, and Judicial; and this Government, to the extent of its powers, acts directly upon the individual citizens of every State, and executes its own decrees by, the agency of its own offi cers. In this respect it differs entirely from the overnmen t under the old Confederation, which was confined to making requisitions on the States in their sovereign character. This left it. in the discretion of each whether to obey dr to refuse, and they often declined to comply with such requisitions. It tints became neces sary, for the purpose of removing this barrier, and "in order to form a more perfect Union," ' to establish a Government which could act di rectly upon the people, and execute its own laws without the intermediate agency of the States. This has been accomplished by the ' Constitution of the United States. In short, the Government created by the Constitution, and deriving its authority front the sovereign people of each of the several States, has precisely the same right to exercise its power over the people of all these States, in the enumerated cases, that each one of them possesses over subjects not delegated to the United States but “reserved to the States, re spectively, or to the people." To the extent of the delegated powers the Constitution of the United States is as much a part of the constitution of each State, and is as binding upon its people, as though it had been textually inserted therein. This Government, therefore, is a great and pow erful Government, invested with all the attributes of sovereignty over the special subjects in which its authority extends. Its framers never intended to implant in its bosom the seeds of its own des truction, nor were they at its Creation ,guilty of the absurdity of providing for its own dissolution. It waft not intended by its framers to be the baseless fabric of a vision which, at the touch of the en chanter, would vanish into thin air, but a substan tial and mighty fabric, capable of resisting the slow decay of time, and of defying the storms of ages. Indeed, well may the jealous patriots of that day have indulged fears that a government of such high powers might violate the reserved rights of the States, and wisely did they adopt the rule of a strict construction of these powers to prevent the danger! But they did not fear, nor had they any reason to imagine, that the Constitution would ever be so interpreted as to enable any State, by her own act, and without the consent of her sister States. to discharge her people from all or any of their Federal obligations. It may be asked, then, are the people of the States without redress against the tyranny and oppression of the Federal Government? By no means. The right of resistance on the part of the governed against the oppression of their go vernments cannot be denied. It exists indepen dently of all constitutions, and has been exercised' at all periods of the world's history. Under it' old governments have been destroyed and new ones hays taken their places. It is embodied in strong :and express language in our own Declara tion of Independence. But the distinction must ever be observed, that this is revolution against an established government, and not a voluntary secession front it by virtue of an inherent COnnti talinnal t fight. In shot', hrf lIA lho flanzar lahly w the face. 6cmsian is neither 11101 . (1 tier less than ravolution. it may or may not. be a justifiable revolution, but still it is revolution. What, in the meantime, is the responsibility and position oC the Executive? He is bound by solemn oath before God and the country "to take care that the laws be faithfully executed," and from this obligation ho cannot be absolved by any human power. But what if the performance of this duty, in whole or in part, has been rendered impracticable by events over which ho could have exercised no control? Such, at the present mo ment, is the ease throughout the State of South Carolina, so far as tho laws of the United States to secure the administration of justice by means of the Federal Judiciary aro concerned. All the Federal officers within its limits, through whose agency alone these laws can be carried into execution, have already resigned. We no longer have a district judge, a district attorney, or a marshal in South Carolina. In fact, the whole machinery of the Federal Gov ernment, necessary for the distribution of re medial justice among the people, has been de molished ; and it would be difficult, if not i mpossible to replace it. The only acts of Congress on the stattite-hook, binding upon this subject,'are those of the 28th Pohruary, 1705, and fld March, 1507. Those authorize the President, after be shall have as ce.ctained that the marshal with his posse comi tatms is unable to execute civil or criminal process in any particular case, to call forth the militia and employ the army and navy to aid lint in performing this service, having first by Proclamation commanded the insurgents " to. iliSpersts and retire peaceably to their re spective Abodes, within a limited time." This duty cannot by possibility be performed in a State where no judielal authority exists to issue process, and where there is no marshal to exe cute it, and where, even if there were such an officer, the entire population would constitute one solid combination to resist him. The bare enumeration of those provisions proves hot+ inadenuute they are without further legisla tion tb overcome a united opposition in a single State, not to speak of other States who muy place themselves in a similar attitude. Congress alone has power to decide whether the present laws can or cannot be amended so as to carry out more ef fectually the objects of the Constitution. The same insuperable obstacles do not lie in the way of executing the laws for the collection of the customs. The revenue still continues to be col lected, as heretofore, at the custom-house in Charleston ; and should the collector unfortunately resign, a successor may ha appointed to perform this duty. Then in regard to the property of the United States in South Carolina. This has been purchased for a fair equivaleat, "by the consent of the Legis lature of the State," "for the erection of forts, magazines, arsenals," .4e., and over these the au thority "to exercise legislation" lion beet] expressly granted by the Constitution to Congress. his not believed that any attempt will be made to expel the United States from this property by force; but if in this I should prove to be mistaken, the officer in eomiaand of the forti hae received orders to act strictly on the defensive. In such a contingency,. the responsibility for consequences would rightfully rest upon the bends of the assailants. Apart from the execution of the laws, so far as this may be practicable, the Executive has no authority to decide what shall be the rela tions between the federal government and South' Carolina. Ae has been invested with no such discretion. Ire possesses no power to change the relations heretofore existing be tween them, much less to acknowledge the in dependence of that State. This would be to invest, n mere Executive officer with the power of recognizing the dissolution of the Confed eracy among our thirty-three sovereign States. It bears no resemblance to the recognition of a foreign de facto government, involving no such responsibility. Any attempt to do this would, on his part, be a naked act of usurpation. It, is, therefore, my duty to submit to Congress the whole ques tion in all its bearings. The coarse of events is so rapidly hastening forward that the emer gency may soon arise, when you may he called upon to decide the momentous question whether ou tossess the )owe • b..f •ceoftutq;'._ myself recreant to my duty were I. not to ex press an opinion on this important subject. The question fairly stated is : Tins the Con stitution delegated to Congress the power to coerce a State into submission which is at tempting to withdraw o• has actually with drawn from the Confederacy ? If answered in the affirmative, it must be on the prhmiple that the power line been conferred upon Con gress to declare and make war against a Sti.te. After much serious reflection I have arrived at the conclusion that no such power has been delegatad to Congress or to any other depart ment of the Federal Government. It is mani fest, upon an inspection of the Constitution, that this is not among the specific and enume rated powers granted to Congress; and it is equally apparent that its exercise is not "ne cessary and proper fo• carrying into execution" any one of these powers. So far front this power having been delegated to Congress, it was expressly refused by the Convention which framed the Constitution. It appears, from the proceedings of that body, that on the :ilst May, 1187 the clause "authorizing an exertion of the force of the whole against a delinquent State" came up for consideration:, Mr. Madison opposed it. in a brief but powerful speech, from which I shall extract but a single sentence. Ile observed: "The use of force against a State would look more like a declaration of war than an inflic tion of punishment ; and would probably he considered by the party attacked as a dissolu tion of all previous compacts by which it might be hound." Upon his motion the clause was unanimously postponed, and was never I believe again pre sented. Soon afterwards, on the Bth of June, 1787, when incidentally adverting to the subject he said: "Any Government for the United States, formed on the supposed practicability of using force against the unconstitutional pro ceedings of the States, would prove as visionary and fallacious as the government of Congress,"• evidently meaning the then existing Congress of the old Confederation. 'Without descending to particulars, it may be safely asserted, that the power to make war against a State is at variance with the whole spirit and intent of the Constitution. Suppose such a war should result in the conquest of 'a State, how are we to govern it, afterwards ? Shall we hold it as a province, and govern it by despotic power? In the nature of things we could not, by physical force, control the will of the poople and compel them to elect senators and representatives to Congress, and to perform al! the other duties depending upon their own volition, and required from the tree citizens of a free State as a constituent member of the Confederacy. But, if possessed of this power, would it be wieo to exercise it under existing circtitustan ces ? The object would doubtless be to pre serve the Union. War would not only present the most effectual means of destroying it; but would banish all hope of its peaceable recon struction. Besides, in the fraternal conflict a vast amount of blood and treasure would be expended, rendering future reconciliation be tween the States impossible. In the mean time, who can foretell what would be the suffering and privation of - the people during its exis tence? The fact is, that our Union rests upon pub lic opinion, and can never be cemented by the blood of its citizens shed in civil war. If it cannot live in the affections of the people, it must one day perish. Congress possess many means of preserving, it by conciliation; but the sword wits, not placed in their hand to pre serve it by force. But may I be permitted solemnly to invoke my countrymen to pause and deliberate before 'they determine to destroy this, the grandest temple which has ever been dedicated to human freedom since the world began? It has been consecrated by the blood of our fathers, by the glories of the past, and by the hopes of the future. The Union has already made us the most . prosperous, and' ere long will, if pre- - >w•ve , l, trr,drr ir, Ihr ts@-i pew ee m ualion on the face of :he eat; In r,tcty foreign region of the glottis the ti.tle of American citizen ha held in high respoot, and when pronounced in a for sign land it muses the hearts of our coun trymen to swell 'with honest pride. Surely, when we reach tip] Mink of the yawning abyz, we shall recoil with horror front the last fatal plunge. By such a, dread catastrophe the hopes of the. friends of freedom throughout the world would be dmtroyed, and n long sight of laden despotism would enshroud the nation.. Our example for snore than eighty years would not only be lost, hut it would be quoted as a conclusive proof that man is unlit for self-gov ernment. It is not very wrung—nay, it is not every grie- YOU wrong—which eau justify a resort to ,ugh a fearful alternative. This ought to be the last de. , perate remedy of a despairing people, after every other constitutional moans of conciliation had been exhausted. We should reflect that under this free Government there is air incessant ebb and flow in Public! opinion. The slavery question, like every thing human, will hay, its day. I firmly believe that it has already ruaebed and passed the cultai noting point. But if, in the midst of the existing excitement, the Union shall perish, the evil may then become irreparable. Congress can contribute much to avert it by pre posing and reeontmending to the Legislatures of the several Stated the remedy for existing evils, whiett the Constitution hue itself provided for its own proservation. This has been tried at different critical periods of our history, and always with imminent success. It is to be found in the .sth article providing for its own amendment. Under this /wattle amendment:, have been proposed by two-thirds of bathhouses of Congress, and hire been "ratified by the legislatures of three-fourths of the several States," and consequently become parts of the Constitution. To this process the country is indebted for the clause prohibiting, Congress front passing anylawrespeeting an establishment of religion, or abridging the freedom of bpeech or of the press, or of the right of' petition. To this we ;we also indebted for the Bill of Rights which scoures the people against any abuse of power by the Federal Government. - Such were the apprehensions justly entertained by the friends of State•rights at that period as to have ren dered 'it extremely doubtful whether the Con stitution could have long survived without these amendments. Again, the Constitution was amended by the same process after the election of President Jefferson by the House of Representatives, in Februari, 1803. This amendment was ren dered necessary to prevent a recurrence of the dangers which had seriously threatened the existence of the Government (lurk'g the pen dency of that. election. The article for its own amendment was intended to secure the amicable adjustment of conflicting constitutional ques tions like the present, witieh might: arise be tween the governments of the States and that of the United States. • This appears from con temporaneous history. In this connection, I shall merely call atten tion to a few sentences in Mr. Madison's justly celebrated report, in 1709, to The legislature of Virginia. In this ho ably and conclusively defended the resolutions of the preceding leg islature against the strictures of several other State legislatures. These were mainly founded upon the protest, of the Virginia legislature against the " Alien and Sedition Acts." as "palpable and alarming infractions of the Constitution." In pointing out the peaceful and constitutional remedies. and he referred to none other, to which the States were authorized to resort, • on such occasions, he concludes by saying ' " that the legislatures of the States might. have made a direct representation to Congress, with a view to obtain the rescinding of the two offensive acts, or they might have represented to their respective Senators in Con gress their wish that two-thirds thereof would gropose an explanatory amendment to the Con stitution, or two•thirds of themselves, if such Lad been their option, might, by an application to Congress, have obtained a convention for the same object." This is the very course which I earnestly re commend in order to obtain an "explatiVot•s r , iitemattyttArdri.,N*44..n.-14,4,. gress or the State legislatures, as may he I deemed most advisable to attain the object. The explanatory amendment might Le con- fined to the final settlement of the true con struction of the Constitution on three special points: 1. An express recognition of the right, of properly in ,slaves in the States where it now exist or may hereafter exist. 2. The duty of protecting this right, inAll the common Territories throughout their terri torial existence, and until they shall be ad mitted as States into the Union, with or with out slavery, as their constitutions may pre scribe. 3. A like recognition of the right of the master to have his slave, who has escaped from one State to another, restored and "delivered lip" to him, and of the validity of the fngitive slave law enacted for this purpose, together with a declaration that all State laws impair ing or defeating this right are violations of-the Constitution, and are consequently null and void. It may be objected that this construction of the Constitution has already been settled by the Su premo Court of the United States, and what more ought to be required. The answer is, that a very large proportion of the people'of the United States still contest the correctness of this decision, and never will cease from agitation, and admit its bind ing force, until clearly established by the people of the several States in their sovereign character.— Such an explanatory amendment would, it is be lieved, forever terminate the existing dissensions, and restore peace and harmony among the States. It ought not to be doubted that such an appeal to the arbitrament established by the Constitu tion itself would Le received with favor by all the States of the Confederacy. ,In any event it ought to be tried in a spirit of conciliation before any of those States shall separate themselves from the Union. When I entered upon the duties of the Presi dential office, the aspect neither of our foreign nor domestic affairs was at all satisfactory. We were involved in dangerous complications with several nations, and two of our Territories were in a state of revolution against the Government. A restoration of the African slave trade had numerous and powerful advocates. Unlawful military expeditions were countenanced by many of our citizens, and were suffered, in de fiance of the efforts of the Government, to es capefrom our shores, for the purpose of making war upon thonnoffentling people of neighboring republics with whom we were at peace. In addition to these and other difficulties, we experienced a revulsion in monetary affairs, soon after my advent to power, of unexampled severity and o f f ruinous consequences to all the great interests of the country. When we take a retrospect of what, was. then our condition, and contrast this with its material prosperity at the' time of the late presidential election, we have abundant reason to return our grateful thanks to that merciful Providence which has never 'forsaken us as a nation in all our past MIE OUR FOREIGN =l2 Our relations with Great Britain are of the most 'friendly character. Since the commence ment of my administration, the two dangerous questions, arising from the Clayton and Bulwer treaty and from the right of search claimed by the British government, have been amicably and honorably adjusted. The discordant construction of the Clayton Bulwer treaty between the two governments, which at different periods of the discussion, bore a threatening aspect, have resulted in a final settlement entirely satisfactory to this Government. In my annual message I infoffmed Congress.thet 11.. British government with the republics of Honduras and Nicaragua, in pur suance of the understanding between the two governments. It is nevertheless confidently expected that this good work will ere long be ac complished." This confident expectation has since been fulfilled, Her Britanie Majesty concluded a treaty with Honduras on the 2-Ith November, 1859, and with Nicaragua on, the :18th August,lBoo, relinquishing the Mosquito pi 01 , Bale by the former, the I; ty Hands ate recognized as IL part of (he republic, of lloniliu•aO. It may th.t observed that the stipulations of these treaties conform in every p tieular to the amendments adopted by th e senate of the United :hates to the treaty con ,lntlid at London on the 111th of lietober, lbTm, bet wren the two governments. It Will be recta lected that this tient.) , was reiamed by the Bit / tsh government because of its objet ion to the ,last and important amendment of the Seu•ue to the article reitaing to Ruatan and the otter: islands in the Bay of llonduras. It mum be a source of sincere satisfaction to all classes of our fellow citi7ens, and especittll to tho , e engaged in foreign commerce, that the claim oit the pant of Great. Britain, lisit ~e at eh American merchant ve,eh..•it the high seas in time of peace, has been aban doned. This was by far the most dangerow. question to the peace of the two conntrie , which has existed sincethe war of 1:412. Whilst it remained open, they might at any nwm,, tt have been precipilatt d into a war. Tlik see rendered manifest by the e‘aspeiatQd st rlr 01 piddle feeling I hrotighout our entire country. produced by the forcible search of Interican merchant vessels by British cruise' , on the coast, of Cuba, in the spring td American people hailed will, gene t 1 1 m e w. the orders of the Keel - moo( Of the to oar naval force in the Gulf of Mexico, to prot ein all ‘e , ..sels of the United States on the high seas front search or detention l the ve, , el,-ot • war ot• any other nation." The.te orders might have 1,1,14111(A en ',vote- Mate collision between the navel torces of Ibr two countries. This WaS most fot Innately pre vented by nu oppeel to the justice of Greet Mifflin and to the law of nations its expounded by her own most eminent jurists. The only question of any importance witch still contains open, is the disputed title byte, een the two governments to the island of San Juan, in the vicinity of Washington Territory. As this ques tion is still under negotiation, it it not deemed advisable at the present moment t make ttiy other allusion to the :object, The recent riot of the Prince of IV,des, in pi i vato character, to the people of this proved to he most auspicious event. In its con sequences it cannot fad to increase toe kindred and kindly feelings which I trust may ever actuate the government and people, of both emintries in their political and social in tercour.m w•:ih each other. EMILE With France, our ancient and powerful ally, our relations continue to ho of the most friendly char acter. A decision has recently been made by a French judicial tribunal, with the approbation of the Imperial fioveraznent, which cannot foil to foster the sentiments of mutual regard that have so long existed between the two countries. Under the Pronch,law no person can serve in tbo armies of France unless he be a French niticen. The law of France recognizing the natural right of expatriation, it follows as a necessary consequence that a Frenchman, by the fact of having become a citizen of the United States.' has changed his allegiance and has lost his na tive character, Ile cannot, therefore, he com pelled to serve in the French armies in mum he should return to his native country. These principles were announced in i 85.: by the French Minister or War, and in two late cases have been confirmed by the French judiciary. In these, two natives of France have been dis charged from the French army, bees use th ey had become American citizens. To employ the language of our present Minister to trance, who has rendered good service on this occasion. "I do not think our French naturalized fellow citizens will hereafter experience much annoy ance-on this subject. - 1 venture to Kedict that the time is not tar distant when the other con tinental powers will adopt the same wise and just policy ichielt has done CO much honor to the enlightened government of the Emperor. In any event, our Government is hound to pro tect the rights of our naturalized citizens ev erywhere to the sante extent as though they had drawn their first breath in this coun try. We can recognize no distinction between t our native-and naturediaedmitizenlk ..1•Ct• 1110 CUL ellAl/4.4 ti .I.‘ ilt• United States the mutual friendship and reg,ard which has so long egisted still continuos to prevail, and if possible, to increase. Indeed, OUP relation& with that empire are all that we could desire. CM Odt• relations with Spain are now or a more complicated though less dangerous character than they have been for many years. Our citizens have long held, and continue to hold,. numerous claims against the Spanish govern ment. These had been ably urged for a se ries of years by our successive diplomatic rep resentatives at Madrid, hut without obtaining redress. The Spanish government finally agreed to institute a joint commission for the adjustment of these claims, and on the sthilti3.- of March, 1550, concluded a convention for this purpose with our present minister at Mail - rid. Under this convention, what have been denominated the II Cuban claims," amounting to $128,035.44, in which more than one linud red of op •,. fellow-citizens are interested, were. recogaz , and the Spanish government agreed to pay ~ 00,000 of this amount "within three. months following the exchange of rati h eat ions.' ' The payment of the remaining 528,6a:i.-54 was to await the decision of the commissioners Our or against. the "Antistad claim:" hut in any event, the balance was to be paid to the claim ants either by Spain or the United Slates.— These terms I have every reason to know are highly satisfactory to the holders 4 the Cuban claims. Indeed, they have made a formal offer authorizing the State Department to settle these claims, and to deduct the amount of the Amistad claim from the sums which they are entitled to receive from Spain. This offer. of course, cannot be accepted. All other claims of citizens of the United States against Spain, or of subjects of the Queen of Spain against the United States, including the "Amistad claim," were by this convention referred to a board of commissioners iu the usual form. Neither the validity of the Amistad claim nor of any other claim against either party, with the single excel. tion of the Cuban claims, was recognized by the convention. Indeed, the Spanish government did not insist that the validity of the Amistad claim -should he thus recognized, notwithstanding its payment had been recommended to Congress by two of my predecessors as well as by myself, and an appropriation for that purpose bad been missed by the Senate of the United States. They were content that it should be submitted to theboard lor examination and decision, like the other claims.— Both governments were bound respectively to pay the amounts awarded to the several claimants "at such times sod places as may he fixed by and ar cording to thv tenor of said awards." I transmitted this convention to the Senate for their cow:, itutional action on the :Id May, 1360, and on the :2;111 of the sneeeedino , June, they deter mined that they would "not advise' and consent" to its ratilleation. These proeeedingsplace our relations with Spain in an awkward and. embarrassing position. It is more than probahhithat the final adjustment of. these claims will devolve upon my successor. I reiterate the recommendation contained in my Annual Message of December, 1858, and repeated in that of December, 1819, in favor of the acquisition of Cuba front Spain by fair purchase. I firmly believe that such au acqui sition would contribute essentially to the well being and prosperity of both countries in alt future time, as well as prove the certain means of immediately abolishing tho African slave trade throughout the world. I would not re peat this recommendation upon the present Occasion, if I believed that the transfer of Cube. to the United States, upon conditions highly favorable to Spain, could justly tarnish tho national honor o r the proud. tut d ancient SpaniA. Monarchy. Surely no person ever attributed to the first Napoleon a disregard of the national honor of France, for transferring Louisiana to the United States for a fair equivalent both its, money and commercial advantages. AUSTRIA, ,U; With the Emperor of Austria, and the re maining continental powers of Europe, includ ing that of the Sultan, our relations continue , to be of the meet friendly character.