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F-te: r.tar4.risfr 3 / 4 4 ., -?%# 7 - ., ,4117,10 . 4000r1- ts - ;•?- ...?L 'V.4' tt i:4040 ' .14 :4 ., :;‘,....1. 1. 4 . 1 - 2 . -,.....-_, .0,2, f 1 ~,,, .4r... - 1.- . .;.4 11 4 0 ..'"- --t, .0•47..'1,r„..+-# . .,„ : ; ‘ , .f.i,,,45%,5L1tt+4 qt",-,,,.; 4te..:14. 4.4...e.5. Y 4' ''', 4'• %.- 't '''' ' ''' --f: 1',.:::;1',7,,,,:19:,';: Airrr : fi ; Z: -‘ 'l7'e' ...,.- ~...A . ....5 , ..„p e„ ,,r_.,.,. totrtlt4. - ltri , tr., -41 rftte ,- 414 . 4 -41„...4- • ,A, F+l . 7 , Z.t. " d • • ;444 . • - 44 _ ‘ - - -•- • • Mil lodical convulsions. And, ormitted to hope that the I ale will never again be im „, crude experiments which have, oo some former occasions, so fearfully ag• gravated the eine they were intended to remedy. I.e respectfully - advise the General Assembly against all such experiments. The remedy, to be permanent,'must be a natural one; artificial means may add to present derangements, but cannot correct, them. Au intensive increase of banking capital and other expedients will, doubt less, be pressed upon your attention; but' it is hopeddhat no; each fallacy may find favor. Nor is there any sufficient reason for the alarm and sensitiveness manifested in certain quarters; the real wealth of the country still exists, and the natural elements of prosperity are no lees than heritofege. It is the shadow, not the substance that is passing away. The business community should look the danger bravely in the face, and by their energy, honesty and enterprise, over come it. Mutual confidence and forbearance should be cherished by all, as a means of ac complishing this desirable end. In accordance with the provisions of a law passed in. April last, a vote of the people was taken, at the October election, on the policy of prohibiting the manufacture and sale of intoxi sleeting ; 168,342 votes were cast in favor of the measure, and 163,510 votes against it. The proper regulation of this subject greatly concerns the moral welfare of the people, and for that reason will claim your anxious conside ration. Perhaps no other moral question within the range of your authority so deeply interests the people, of every class, race and condition. Indeed, the . immoderate use of intoxicating drinks is an evil that has left its fatal mark in every vicinage. Its progress, fortunately, has been steadily resisted by societies and individu als, who have employed the power of truth and reason againat it These efforts have done much, and may do more hereafter to mitigate the evil. Avoiding all vexatious encroachments upon the rights and privileges of every citizen, there is clearly nofoason why the influence of a well de signed law,regulating and restraining the sole of intoxicating liquors, should not be brought to the aid of these individual efforts. Although the vote of the people would seem to indicate their aversion to the particular measure of re form proposed, it is not to be inferred, for that reason they are averse to all attempts at refor mation. 'Such an inference, I am confident, would not be a true reflection of their senti ments. So far from this, they acknowledge the existence'of the evil and the necessity of proper remedies. Our present licence laws, to this end, might, in my opinion, be usefully revised—the object of each revision being to lessen the vice of intemperance. That those laws need such revision is conceded. So far as relates to the city of Philadelphia, they are peculiarly prej t. dieial to public morals, and seem to have been constructed to pronlote the convenience of del,' log, far more than to restrain its evil consequee ems. The subject is worthy of your early re. ! deliberate consideration. The report of the Superintendent will exhibit to you, in detail, the operations of the Common . School system for the year just closed; and I re spectfully recommend the suggestions of that of ficer to your :went ooneideratioo. The general law of 1849, with amendments and modifications, was re-modeled by the lest Legislature. The moat material parts of tee old law, which were omitted in the new, were the sub-district, the endowment, and sectarian features. The former was rejected because of the untie:estary multiplication of offices which it authorized, and the conflicts which perpetually arose between the committees and directors; and the latter, because in manifest hostility to tic true Wept of the common school system. The.: provisions, which seemed to contemplate a sepa rate school establishment, under sectarian t -.- teenage, although controlled by the emcee, school directors, were originally engrafted up •,, the acts of 1836 and 1838, and were again re enacted in 1849. They were very properly stricken from the system by the law of last ses sion. Should efforts be Made in tip future, ut similar innovations, come whence they may, it is hoped they may be promptly rejected. The aye tem, to be effectual, must be simple and uniform in its operations. Special legislation. inconsis tent with the general law, applicable to portico lar localities or districts, to answer temporary nr partial ends, always has, and always willetobar rasa the administration of the general eyStem, and should, for this reason, be carefully avoided. The integrity of its forms, not less than the means to sustain its operations, should be con stantly maintained, and sacredly aherlchel by the government. A new feature in the system, adopted in the law of last session, creating the office of County Superintendent, has not, as yet, been fully test ed ; and there evidently exists some diversity et opinion-aa to the wisdom of the provision. It is already very obvious, at least, that its beneficial workings must depend mainly upon the eherac ter of the agents selected to carry it into open. tion. Competent and faithful Superintendent, may produce the happiest results; whilst the ee. agency of the ignorant or inefficient will be at tended by the reverse consequences. In order to give this new feature of the law a fair trial. it will be necessary, therefore, for the director,' in-the respective counties to select Superintend eats with sole reference to their adaptation to tb• - duties of the station. . NO. e 'VP"' 'As ;: n " - EMIZENNE .I , L ,','* E .' ,~.~`~; Of the many obstacles in the way of the cm ,plete success of our Common School system, th• one most prominent, and most difficult to re move, is the want of competent teachers. In some communities, I regret to say, the system has fallen into comparative inefficiency, beefily good teachers cannot be found ; and in other: the most vexatious consequences have onset, from the employment of the illiterate and incom patent. Nothing could exercise a more prejudi• eel influence; indeed, between a very be, teacher and none at all, the latter alternltiv. might, in many instances, be preferred. This deficiency is clearly manifest, and hard to obvi ate. Some of the beet mind's of the State hove been occupied and perplexed with it; and until recently no general and practicable plan for its removal had been devised. The plan of granting permanent professional certificates, by officers skilled in the art of teach lag, and eminent in :literary and scientific ac quirements, to teachers who satisfactorily pass a thorough examination in the several branches of study which the act of May, 1854, requires to be taught in every district, and also in the art of teaching—is already obviously effecting deist ded improvement in this regard, and it is be tieved will do much towards placing the profes siodupon a high and firm basis. Normal schools, it is urged, could in addition to some extent sup ply the deficiency, bat the expenses of such an institution would be heavy. The source of this difficulty, it is clear, can be traced, in a great measure, to the want of a pro per appreciation in the public mind of the poet Lion and business of a teacher. The profession, for this reason, in addition to the absence of fair - compensation, has not been attractive. Indeed, it bar scarcely been regarded as a profession at all, bat rather as a preliminary step to some other pursuit. Well directed efforts have recent ly been made to change the general sentiment on this point, and I rejoice in the belief that these have not been in vain ; and that the day is not far distant when the, profession of teacher will be equal to the- aepirations of the most ambi tious of our people ; when its distinctions, digni ties and pecuniary rewards will command the Arne and attention of the most gifted. I can see no reasons why this state of feeling should not prevail; why the profession of teacher should not rank in honor and profit with the other learned professions; why the science of devel oping the human intellect—of giving scope and force to mind—of elevating the moral faculties of our race—of oontrolling the passions and tempering the desires, should not be esteemed as highly as those professions and callings, whose ornaments have received all their cepaci• ty and polish at the hands of the comparatively humble and illy rewarded teacher. I earnestly recommend the common school sys tem to your guardian care, as the most sacred of all our institutions. The offspring of a con stitutional injunction on the Legislature—the extension and perpetuity of its usefulness, is the plain duty of all. Resting at the very foun dation of the government, its practical workings should be a true reflection of our republican system, and its blessed opportunities made avail able to all, regardless of rink, or condition, or persuasion. It should aid the poorradvance the rich, and make the ignorant wise. I confidently anticipate for it, a day of great er perfection and wider influence. No better ob ject can engage the attention of government, or - Consume its means, than the education of the people in the most comprehensive sense of the term; embracing the use of letters, the cultiva tion of the moral faculties, and the diffusion of ohristian truth. In this we have the surest guarantee for the perpetuity of our republican government, and for the enjoyment of civil-lib erty and religious freedom. Such an education may be safely claimed as the most potent means of ,preventing crime—of increasing individual happiness and national dignity—of promoting christianity and civilization—of extirpating mor• al and political evils—of elevating, aignifying pad adorning our social condition. Our various Charitable and reformatory insti tutions—so creditable to the State, and which, inlheir practical operations, have done so much for the relief of suffering humanity—will claim the continued care and bounty of the Common wealth. • The State Lunatic Hospital at Harrisburg, un der its present efficient control and management, meets the just anticipations of its wise and be• nevoleutAdvoCates. Its humane and benignant agency in ameliorating the condition of the un fortunate ease for whose relief it was designed, can be judged by no ordinary standard. The benefits of such an institution rise above all mere pecuniary estimates. Its purposes address them selves to the best and noblest feelings of our na ture, and can only berated at the price of human hope and human reason. A somewhat dissimilar, though not less meri torious Institution has recently been established in Philadelphia, for the mental training of the Idiotic and the imbecile. The astonishing re sults it has already achieved in developing and invigorating the weak and clouded intellect, should secure fur it public confidence and pat ronage. It commends itself to the bounty and care of the State. The institutions for the education of the Deaf and Dumb, and Blind, will also need, as they justly merit, the usual annuity from the State. They are in a flourishing condition, and continue to bestow numberless blessings upon the unfor tunate beings committed to their charge. As a scheme for corroding and reclaiming wayward and offending youth, the House of Re fuge stands pre-eminent; and is every where gaining public confidence. Its general influence upon tots class of erring creatures, is far more effectual and humanizing than that of the ordi nary modes of punishment. It takes charge of those whose offences are often the result of cir cumstances rather than criminal intent; who fall by the influence of bad example, of wicked aesociation, of idle habits or animal necessities; or who sin because of the utter want of moral and mental perception; who do wrong, rather than right, because they have not the power to distinguish between them. For ouch unfortu nate beings, the House of Refuge possesses the advantages of restraint and correction—with moral and intellectual training, as well as of instruction in the usual pursuits of life, without the disgrace and chilling intlubace of prison con finement. The results, therefore, often are, that its inmates go back to society, cured of all mor al defection, and competent to fill the place of correct and useful members of community. Daring the past summer, the magnificent structure erected under the supervision of cer tain benevolent gentlemen of Philadelphia, as a new House of Refuge, was completed and thrown open for public inspection. The capacity, order, and arrangements, in every particular, of this admirable building, are fully equal to the de sign of its founders. It is an honor to them and an ornament to the beautiful city in which it is situated; and its good effects in future, under the same eystematic and wise discipline which so eminently distinguished its past management, will not be readily over-rated. The Western House of Refuge, situate on the banks of the Ohio river, a short distance below Pittsburgh, I am gratified to say, is also comple• ted and ready for inmates. Though less impos ing, as to size had capacity, than its stately com peer of the east, it possesses all the order econo my of_rtpace, and perfect alaptittion .to the purposes designed, that characterize the more costly structure at Philadelphia; and is also be lieved to be quite adequate, as to size, to present wants, while it is built with expresi reference to future additions, should they become necessary. Neither of these buildings have,' I presume, been erected without involving their projectors in pecuniary liability, and perhaps loss. The entire state has a deep interest in suck truly meritorious institutions; and whatever relief can be given to them by the Legislature, consist ently with the condition of the Treasury or our public engagements, should be cheerfully ex• tended. The interests of Agriculture aro ardently commended to your care. Extensive and ener getic efforts have been recently made to die. een.anate correct information concerning this great pursuit, anal in thin way to confer upon the farmer the a•lvantage of a scientific as we❑ as a greatly refined, practical understanding cf the nob'e pursuit in which he it engaged. The utility of a College, devoted to the science of Agriculture, with a model farm attached— wherein the principles of a scientific cultivation of the soil, and manual labor in that pursuit, would be joined to the usual Academical eto ties —has been strongly preened upon my attention. It is believed that such an institution can be successfully organized under the auspices of the State and County Agricolturel Societies. The practice adopted and maintained by the last General Assembly, in reference to omnibus bille and special legislation, is an improvement of such value as to commend itself an a settled rule ; and I confidentiy trust this salutary pre cedent may not be dieregirded Obscurity, confusion and inaccuracy in the construction of our laws, inroade upon private rights, and unguarded corporate privileges, Ni tration and confusion in the interpretation and administration of our statutes, have been the fruits of a leosie and unguarded system of leg islation. The evil has been one of the greatest magnitude, and the remedy should be cherished with unyielding tenacity. Special legislation has no little to recommend or sustain it in prin ciple, it is surprising it has been so long en dured. Although ranch was (1300 by the two preceding legislatures by general lure, to amt. ate any supposed necessity for special acts, there still ie much to be performed in avoiding a return to thin unsafe practice. It is believed that general laws can be no framed as to avoid in most cases the necessity for special acts, and the proposition is most earnestly commended to your favorable consideration. The omnibus system—a. pernicd as mode of legislation, by which the moat opposite mea sures, good and bad, are thrown together in one bill and under one title—was, I rejoice to lay, entirely broken down and discarded by the last General Assembly. The volume of laws for 1854 contains no acts of this character. Each law embraces but a single subject, and that in dicated by its proper title. The 55th section of the act providing for the expenses of Government for 1553, aathorized and rtquirr I the G ',teener to sell the State ar, renal at Philadelphia, and apply the proceeds of such sale towards the purchase of another site and the erection of a new building; and restricting the expenditure to the emu received for the old property. The building and lot were readily sold for $30,000. The selection of a new location, and the erection of another build ing, presented a far more difficult task. I read ily discovered that the eum thus appropriated was entirely inadequate to accomplish the end in view. Too price of a similar location would leave but a meagre sum with which to erect the building. Under all the circumstances, I have not felt authorized to attempt to carry out the law, and would respectively suggest the proprie ty of the appropriation for this pur pose. The report of the present able and energetic Adjutant General will inform you of the con dition of the military affairs of the State. This department of public affairs, I regret to say, has been in a confused and declining condition for nevehil yore. The public Librarian has called my attention to-the fact, that the law reports of twenty two other Staten have been regularly received by this, and that no provision has ever been made on our part to reciprocate this courtesy and generosity, I respectfully suggest the proprie ty of authorizing some officer of the Govern ment to procure the necessary copies of the Pennsylvania reports to aupply those States who have so generously added to our library. The registration act, I respectfully suggest, has essentially failed to accomplish the end de signed, and should be repealed or amended. A 'reacted eq incomplete and Imperfect can do no good ; but may really do harm. It has already cost the State about $26,000, to which there must be annually additions. The object ie a de sirable one, but I im confident it can never be attained by the mode contemplated in this law. It is a subject of constant complaint by registers nod physicians, nod only such registration is made no is compulsory, io order to legalize let tere of administration. By the 07th section of the appropriation law of last session the Secretary of the Common wealth was authorleed to continue the publica tion of the Archives to the year 1790. Under this authority the selection of documents from 1783 to 179 Q, has been made, and the tenth vol ume, containing this matter, will be ready for distribution before the close of the session. Two additional volumes will complete the work as originally designed. The councils of Philadelphia, by an ordinance passed in October, 1852, dedicated the necessary ground in Independence Square, to the erection of a monument commemorative of the Declara tion of Independence ; awl tendered the posse-- siou of the premises to the representatives of nine or more of the original States. Since that time, the States of New York, Now ..I,reey, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Connee ticut, Georgia and Pennsylvania, have eignilled their willingness to accept the proposition or the terms indicated by the councils, and to partici pate in this patriotic work. Delaware, Mary land, Virginia and the two Carolinas, have ta ken no aotion on the subject. I cannot refrain from again expressing my unabated solicitude for the success of this movement. If American history furnishes a single event which is worthy of commemoration --- • :;:fr - tit , 4 ; t ts' •• • ..„ •••• • , - • ' ,P t, • ,•`, • y9w t .4 . 4 -*. L • - "% , " „A• 4.: • #14.10 . - , ' 1.- - . • ~ 4',1•,i , ,o.ok 4VI Irtif • 4 ",r.~ , 11:'1. .: ~`_"_Fwd°~.a.:;t+isu~i'two`.~-ntrtPYx~n'..v,.'.''.~":r^r:'..?'.: by a monument, the Declaration of Independ ence is that eve t. In moral grandeur it is without a parallel, and stands above all others for the mighty influence which it has exerted upon the political, religious and social condition of mankind. it has been justly said, it ushered in a new member into the family of nations and electrified all Europe. It opened new revela tions of liberty, and changed the relations of people and government, by teaching the one how to resist and conquer oppression, and the other the absolute necessity to its own continuance of recognizing and respecting the rights of human ity. From that time forth, a new, vital and quickening spirit has pervad d the world. Thrones have been shaken, empires have been overturned, society has been convulsed, blood and carnage has desolated the earth ; tint still the intelligence and souls of the people of all Christendom have been so vivified, elevated and expanded to a comprehension of their right, as will never be obliterated or forgotten; but will ad vance, enlarge, an increase, until the moral and social preparation for the appreciation and en joyment of liberty shall be effected, which, in the divine economy ie so indispensable to the permanence of free institutions. As the third generation of that posterity, for whom the men of the revolution chiefly labored and suffered, and died, it is peculiarly fitting that we should erect such representations of . their great and controlling acts as shall speak to our cirri hearts, to our children's hearts, and shall testify to God and the world, that we ap preciate and reverence, and would cultivate and disseminate the mighty truths and prin ciples which brought our nation into existence, which confidante its very life, and of which it seems designated by Providence to be—the spe cial defender and protector. I believe we should have a monument to per petuate the remembrance of the great event, from which such manifold and inestimable bles sings have sprung; some imperishable memo rial of our gratitude to the authors of the Decla rations of Independence; to the heroes who par ticipated in the mighty struggle ; an enduring witness of the great things done amongst us and for us; en embodiment of the origin and principles of our government ; some distinguish ing mark of the place of the nation's birth ; consecrated temple of liberty, about which un born generations of Americans may meet and renew their assurances of fidelity to the princi ples of the Declaration and to their natural off spring—the Constitution and the Union. I am for this work most earnestly; and I trust that Pennsylvania will not permit it to fail; but that it may be pressed upon the attention of the ori ginal thirteen States, until each and all shall evince a willingness and determinat on to par ticipate in the erection of this glorious struc ture. To this end l_respectfully suggest to the General Assembly, the propriety of again calling the attention of the original States to the sub ject, by resolution or otherwise. In closing my last communication to the Gene ral Assembly, and terminating my official rela tions with the people of my native Common wealth. I may he indulged in a brief and general reference to her present proud position as • member of the great family of States, arid to the patriotism, integrity, and general prosperity ,f her citizens. The advantageous geographi cal position of Pennsylvania, with a Sae harbor open to the Atlantic, and another conneotingher centrally with the magnifioent chain of western take navigation—her long branching rivers, spreading their arms and arteries through every portion of her territory, all added to her fertile soil and exhaustless deposits of valuable miner als—present a combination of the natural ele ments of greatnees, ecarcely equalled in our own or any other quarter of the globe. ?helm have made her an ,attractive field for the science, in dustry and enterprise of man; and all her na tural advantages have been cherished and culti vated, until she has reached a condition of varied wealth and positive prosperity. Her system of internal improvements will safely compare with those of any sister State, wkether in regar l to completeness in construction, or the extent of country which they traverse. Nor have the higher hopes of hums ity been disregarded by our statesmen, and the people at large; as the liberal provision+ for common schools, Aeade• mi - s and cur 00110010111 crowded 'hutches attest: whi:e, at the lame time, the srious Aoylums fur the ineene, and for the un ortunate of all clasees and nonfitione, and err of Refuge, for the reformation of the way ard and erring, ■ileutly. yet eurely, beer wtt• egs that the cause of benevolence hie always amid effective advocates within her border.. In physical improvement" and popalation her progress has been steady and rapid. In the liiys of (1;v. Soy ter, the erection of a bridge - iver the Susquehanna river, and the construe :ion of a turnpike road was the sutject of execu tive exaltation, sal a matter of congratulation among the people. Now her whole surface i+ checkered over with railroads, canals and other highways. Teen the. whole revenues of the state amounted to but 141.',0,000 Now t h e y es. coed five millions. Of tie four large States, her per centage of ItiCrell,C in popu!uion, since 1840, is the greatest; and she has besides excelled the best of her sisters iu the production of wheat, iron and coal. Iler population numbers not less than two and half millions; nearly as large as all the States at the time of the Revolution The present value of her real and personal estate ex ceeds $8.50,000,000 liar annual production of coal is worth in the market over twenty millions 11cr great interests of agriculture, manufactures and commerce are rapidly extending. She has, in addition, a history of which we may we:l' be proud. Within her limits I. found the birthplace of Inkependence—that sacred spot where was first iriclared those great trutlil which lie at the foundltion of American nation ality. In the maintenance of those truths she bore a glorious part. liar contribution of men to the field, and money to the treasury—of talent and wisdom to the Congress of the Colonies, were not surpassed by those of any other State. It was hersons whocrossed the Delaware in theilead of winter, under the lead of Washington, and for a time turned the tide of war. Again, in the struggle of ISL.!, for the rights of American sit• irenship, nod in that of trig;, for American honor and progress, she contributed with a profuse generosity. The contest amongst her eons was not as to who should have the right to stay at .home, but wbo should have the privilege of going into the field. Bearing this honorable art in matters of foreign war—she his had no less enviable participation in allaying domes tic strifes. Whenever the exigency seemed to require it, she has stood firmly by the Constitu- Lion and the Union, and ever contended for the rights of all stations of th — ccuntry, and all classes and denominations of the people. Such te our State. To live and die within her limits, and to have borne even a very humble part in her civil service and in her history, I shall ever esteem as a proud privilege—one that, as it drawn nearer to the eloee, swells my heart with gratitude to her people, ►t the recollection of the numerous proofs of confidenee I have expe rienced at their hands. The fullness of my exultation In the ohmmeter and happy condition of our beloved Common wealth, and of the gratitude I have expressed, leaves no room in my bosom for even a lingering regret at a decision of my fellow-citizens, which is soon to relieve me from the cares and labors of a public life. Its transient excitements have already been forgotten, and its alienations, if any, forgiven. I shall resume my place in the ranks of the people, with a ealm consciousness of having always Bought to advance their best interests to the extent of my ability; and of never having yielded my convictions of right, either in subservience to - any selfish wpm, or any narrow and unworthy prejudice. Having adverted to various subjects of oon gratulation In regard to the public affairs of my own State, I may be indulged in a brief refer ence, also, to the happy aspect of our common country, and the elevation it has reached among the nations of the earth, in the light of liberty, and through the workings of - its benign intaltu tionii. Who amongst us, and throughout this broad land, does not experience at this moment, and at every moment, in his own condition, and the condition of those who surround him, the in fluence and benefit of our happy Union, and the well-considered compact ty which it is sustained. A basis of calculation, exhibited by past expe rience, will give our country a population of thirty millions in lees than ten years from the present time—of eighty millions in thirty years to Dome—and of one hundred millions st the alone of the present century I But mere num bers are of no moment, compared with moral 'elements, in a nation's greatness. The vital strength and stability of the United States, se a people, conflate in the substantial interest whioh each individual has in the permanency of those glorious institutions which were baptized in the blood of our revolutionary struggle, and handed down to us as the sacred legacy of our fathers. Peril, or destroy these, and we peril or destroy the share of sovereignty and equality whioh they were designed to secure, alike to the richest and vorest, to the highest and humblest in the land. The experience of more than three-fourths of a century proves, I am persuaded, that the Amer ican people in the main, truly appreciate the beneficent structire and beautiful operation of our republican system. We have been assailed by an insidious and open hostility from abroad, and have, at times before the present, been en countered by both the ooncealed and palpable spirit of faction at home; yet the Constitution still stands as widely sod firmly riveted in the ' 1 , 0 ,4. 4k • ' ' • •• • : s P. te.ik a 4."`4" , :r.r r • - - • , • ~„ : ~. • f • 4 , • , a! , ,1• „! ;• .• 4 *: P.., • p-. 111 0 4: ";I,tir. MEE MEE *.d o ; . 1311=MS The more f,L, prosperity undoubie,„, , industry end intelligence of the rich natural resOurcee of our coo u ~ ) to en advantageous commercial intercourse with a warring world. But there is one element which we should cherish as more potent than all these: it is the protection and encouragement afforded by the union of the States, under an adequate and stable government. To this and the virtue of our citizens, under the smiles of Heaven, we are more indebted as a people, than to any other circumstance cr relation. No one who hoe studied our history, and marked the spirit in which our Union was formed, can avoid the conviction that our government, so far se em:terns the stability of this confederacy, must be one of opinion rather than force. Born in compromise and conciliation, it must be cherish ed in the same spirit; it must present itself to every member of this republic in the welcome guise of friendship and protection—not in over bearing pride, or as wielding the strong arm of power. We have before us the plain-written compaot of our fathers, to which they reflectingly con sented and subscribed, and so bound ue who have succeeded them. Its bleseings and its benefits have been felt throughout long years of unexampled prosperity. If we would obange any of its provisions, let us, with at least com mon honesty and manliness, pursue the mode of amendment which is pointed out, in admirable precision, in the noble instrument itself. But until this is done, those amongst us, who, from whatever motive, or under whatever - pretext, either openly repudiate any of its plain provi sions, or covertly retreating under the cloak of secret organization, eeek to violate its spirit, or avoid compliance with its clear behests, dishonor the faith of their fathers and deny their own palpable and solemn obligations. Entertaining . these views, how can any American patriot re gard, with the least degree of compliancy, the continued and embittered excitement of one sec tion of the country against the domestic institu tions of sootier; or the more recent organiza tion of secret societies throughout the Union, based upon doctrines of ,exclusion and procrip don, utterly at war with our National and State constitutions, and obnoxious to the liberal spirit of American republicanism? What admirer of the venerated Father of his Country but must now feet, with resistless force, his_ solemn warn hags against secret societies for political ends, as placing a powerful engine in the hands of the selfish and designing, and enabling them not only to acquire power unworthily, but also to sap and destroy the most sacred principles of our government? In these reflections upon certain political or ganizations, if I rightly comprehend my own motives, I am actuated by no mere partizan hos tility or resentment. Were I to say less at the present moment, I shohld stifle my clearest con victions of right, and shrink from a duty I owe to the people of Pennsylvania, who have so gen erously sustained me in various public relations in the past. Nay, more ; I should, by silence in this regard, fail properly to reflect that constan cy and unswerving faith which our noble Com monwealth has ever evinced towards the princi ples of our national compact, in reference to the freedom of conscience and univeral religous tol eration; and also to the wise doctrines of popu lar and State sovereignty, and the inherent right of self-government During the brief period which remains of my official term, I shall readily-and cheerfully co operate with the 0 I Assembly, in all prop er measures, to advance the public weal; and I earnestly invoke noon our labors, and the labors of those who may follow us in our public voca tion, the kindly care and keepipg of that Great and lßenificent 'Being who holds• the destiny of nations as well as of individulals, as it were, to the hollow of his band, and without whose continued smile there can be neither national or individual prosperity. WM. 810 LE R. EXECUTIVZ CRAM/MIL tarrubtarg, January 3, 18.56-. 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