Newspaper Page Text
Canning, support this bill, and he has described
all the Speakers at present in parliament a?
mere puny orators compared with Mr. Canning.
The noble Earl, most probably, never before
heard the Lord Chancellor of Ireland, or he
wouid not have made that assertion, and his
taunt against the noble Lords who have been
t ho friends of Mr. Canning is quite undesesved.
From all that I saw of Mr. Canning in his tuna,
1 am convinced that if Mr. Canning, still lived,
he would be with me, and opposed to thos«-
who resist this measure. But we have heard
of tho great men who advocated this system.
Mr. canning was but the disciple of a s’i'l great
er man—Mr. Pitt; and after all we have heard
about reform being dangerous, revolutionary,
and so forlh.it is a qurious citcumMance that
Mr. Pi It was for a long period a strenuous re
former; that he approved of it; that while in
office he voted for it; that he propounded a
measure of reform himself; that he divided
the House on it; and if ho ceased to advocate
it at the period of the French Rovolufion he
never concealed his decided mortification and
disappointment that his plans ot reform had
failed. His memorable saying should not he
forgotten—‘that without reform no honest
man could he the Minister of this country; and
that if at hazard you should get an honest man
Mi i-ter, he could not honestly serve you.’
What was one portion of Mr. Pitt's reform?
To add 100 members to the other House ot’
Parliament. Oar hill only proposes to make
4he House in numbers more like what it was
before 1801. A multiplicity of changes have
from time to lime been made in the represen
tation of the country and in the con.-ti ution of
of Parliament. I wi’i not go buck to the time
of Henry VI. when tSic qualification lor an elec
tor was raided to 40s. equivalent to /40 of our
against this bill—that if that moderate reform
of winch they speak were to be carried, I
shcruld very much marvel if they would Imve
Gallon or Borough bridge, or any such places
long spared to them.—(Hear, hear) These,
then-the reasonableness of the measure, the
consistency of it in principle, and the delensi-’ it to be understood, that I speak merely as an
lib ness of it in argumcnt-consti'ute the main
ground of my approval of the measure.—The
second ground of my approval, though indefen
sible in argument—though diflicu-t to reconcile
iu principle, and though more difficult to main
tain in debate, is, that there are many boroughs
infinitely worse than the boroughs which are
called close boroughs. If there were any se
curity that the close boroughs wiil remain in
such hands as have hitherto held them, and as-
do still hold them, 1 should think their longer
existence far less exceptionable, than the ex
istence of such boroughs as Barnstable, and-
but I will not go into them, for a late report
of a committee of the House of commons pre
vents me from thinking of any of them hut the
last to which lhe:r attention has been culled—
I mean the overgrown, foul, and corrupt bor
ough ol Liverpool, (hear, hear,) where corrup
tion stalked the streets bv dayl ght, and where
the iniquity of the place waxed so great that
tfcc fame ofit spread from one quarter of the cm
pire to the other— where instead ofimi’aiiug the
practice which a remnant of shame or a sense
of danger has given rise to in smaller boroughs
of a private room and a hole in the wall, men
were seen huxtermg their votes in tho open
streets at noontide, and tallies that sold for
twenfv pounds at first, fetched double and Ira
ble after wards (Hear, hear, hear ) Then there
is the out voter—the scourge of the place in
which he exercises his right of franchise-who
inoculates all whom ho approaches with the
vices he has learn, d in the capital, or in some
let in; and though it has been said that as
leaseholders only of 21 years, were to he ad
mitted, that alteration would not make mjich
differences, yet I must be allowed to dissent al
together from that position. At the same
time, let me observe—but in saying this, I beg
money; bnl 1 will reler you, for instance, to other large city; and who, however pure the
what occurred on the union with Scotland and ! resident body may have, been before they saw
|he Union with Ireland, 1 will refer to 1778, j him, w\»s sure to bring with him venom enough
1782, and 1703, when Parliament repealed a | to make it one festering mass of corruption
jgreat pottion of the Catholic disabilities, and before he left it. (Hear, hear) Putting a slop
actually admitted 5-6;lis of the population to
fhe right of voting who never possessed it be
fore. That was, in fact, more a parliamentary
revolution that a parliamentary reform 1 will
refer yon also to the period when Parliament
reduced the representatives of Ireland from
fhree hundred to cne hundred, and added
fhesa one hundred member-, to the E igl.sh
Mouse of Commons. These all were meas
ures which much better deserved the epithets
of revolutionary and so forth; than the measure
upon which they are so abundantly lavished
I am sure that if a more moderate reform, sue!)
as has been recommended by rny Noble Friend,
this evening, trut which will never satisfy the
people, had been brought forward by Govern
ment, it would have met with quite as much
opposition as the present one id Parliament.
Suppose that halt the rotten boroughs had
been disfranchised, or that nil of them had been
ruuti'ated of half their Members, should we
not have had from my Noble Friend, and from
nil elsewhere, the same reprehension of dis
franchisement? Should we not have boon told
that w e are going too far? Would it not have
b ,en said to us by my Noble friend, “why do
you stop there: had you not better lop off all;
for, if you had, you could not have committed
tcJ the system whi-;h arises from ou!-v<ders, is
in my opinion, one of the best parts of the plan.
Well, ?ht*n, 1 say, tlr-t 1 think tli«re are some
utlx r boroughs much worse than the close bor
ouglis, aud I know that ia saying-this I I «y
my«*ell open to be fold— "Ai»!*hut you suppuii
the rfrtenfioD of some of those borough* ” 1
tl-i k, however, ’na; I nave already answered
that argument. 1 cannot tell exactly where to
draw ihe line bur I k »ow that the puplic eye
fix. d upon -neb hor -u^hs as these, so that
if delinquency continue in them, it cannot es
cape detection, and, consequently, punishment;
wbibi .is contentment and conciliation to a cer
ta a extent are necessary to the sucre.sr of the
measure I am prepared to accede to this part
ot the biil But see now, whether any thing
so bad as some results of the present system,
can possibly be tfff-cied by any change, Asa
sample—now what do your Lordship think of
a man, who, to get rid of hi.-, debts bought a
seat in Parliament for three men fo? W hat
do you think of a man who bv so ptircha-mg
a seat go! out out of prison, arul being oit o!
prison went abroad—and, when .»b < „ } vacated
his seat so that another Member msglii come
in, white fhe Gentleman who went abr ad nev
er found his way hack again? (Hear. h-a», <>e.r.
a greater vi dation of the principles of the| nr 'd laughter ) I need not tell you that tt
Constitution?” (Hear, hear, from Lon! Warn-
cliffo }—I perceive that my Noble Friend «p
predates the force of my reasoning. (Laugh
ter, and cries of “No, he,” from Lird War?)
elide) Yes, my Noble Friend does; only my
Noble Friend was surprised that the argument
should have struck us in the same way —
(Langhter ) My Noble Friend, and those who
hold the same language with my N«*b| Friend,
would have said to us, “why do you stop here,
the argument which wiil juslily I be taking
away one borough will justify the taking away
another; if so, why should you be both r *pa
cions and fncorisi-tent too (Laughter) \V .v
this half measure? Do you truck the pt.ople
will like it? Oh, no; you may gratify your
foolish partialities; you may retain ycur cber
Died Gufton, your belov id borough bridge,
mid your favoiite Sarum, but do you think ihe
happened But what do v#»u think of rhi
next ca-ic which I am about to narrate to vu?
—A m; n bought a borough, say for /40,000 **i
/60 000 I say bought a ’» t »ugb, hi-rause that
is llie phrase—hut your Loid-hip- kn o tb e
what is really bought is ttie power >f d >r.uiin,;
upon peace or w ar. upon aMaff.ir- <d commerce
upon parliamentary reform, upon the i.moii* t1 t
taxation—in a word, upon all tbe great and vi
tal questions when ver the prosperity, porous-
Mo* very existence, of ibe rn.p-re dop.-nd-.
This, 'nr L >rds is the moaning of burj i_»
borough.(H. ar and laughter) Well, bui irHh.
case of which I am speaking, all the money
was not to be pai l down at once— perhaps •
was not Convenient; and so it being aoreed
'hat the prompt should he at six months,liter
w us to be discount, cfc nirso; and what d . you
Lordships suppose ‘be discount w -s? M<ri- v
individual—I should not care, if the the lease
holders of the smallest term were let in; for.
while l let iu the towns, it was rny anxious de
sire thafthe election for couoties should be in
dependent.
My Noble Friend has alluded to my canvass
in the county of Y»rk; but I beg to remind
my Noble Friend that I never thought of can
vassing the ’squires, l took great care to can
vass theftowns. Indeed, Ihci/squires were at
first violently opposed to me—as indeed mos!
ol my best friends always have been—and h-
mong the ’squires of Yorkshire I have the ho
nor of boasting many friends. Tb ; ’squires ac
tually held a meeting for the purpose ot prevent-
i g my standing—But I am o . d to add, that
when they found they conld not do that, the
meeting ended in an invitation to me to offer mv-
sell as a candidate. However, I did not place
any dependence upon the’squires; all my reli
ance was upon the towns, for they were sure
to carry the election. Tins my I^oble Friend
knows as well or better than 1 do; and I put it
to your Lord-tups and to to my Noble Friend
whether this is a state of county representati
on which ought to be satisfactory to the coun
try ? Nv)W this bill restores the representation
to what it ought to be, al hough mv N' ble
Friend insists that it is n*>t so good a measu
asone which he could have proposed, but which
rny Noble Friends lias not proposed. Last of all,
then, such is (lie state which this country ha9
reached, ami the world at large has arrived at
such a slate, that it is no longer just, no longer
expedient, no, nor no longer even safe, that the
great mass of (he honest and industrious peo
ple of the great kingdom should continue lon
ger unrepresented The spread of knowledge
among them, .lie intelligence, the industry, the
weight which attaches to them, render it nei
ther honest nor safe in your Lordships, nor ex-
pedient for the country, if you value the we!
fare & security of the state, that the only point
on which you should continue to overlook
the p ople sheuid he the right of tfie people to
be represented in Parliament. We a-e not slow
in caiiiag upon lbs people to contribute milli
ons of taxes—we never forgot to enlist Ihe
people in ou ranks when we diained the people
of thoir blood in waifare, as wc drain them ot
their money in peace ; but the only point up-
‘ou which we never appealed to the people,
»ho only point in which the people had been
grossly lilt rented by us, was that no represen
tation had been £.ivon to the people to the ex
lent which their worth, their services, & their
character gave them a right to have. If the
the kingdoms had not been united, the Ciown
must have issued writs tethe large town* ami
he bed ev d that the Crown mu-t also have dis
continued the issue of writs 'o the boroughs.
All, therefore, winch wo are cubed upon now
to do, is to do th.it regularly and irregularly;
and that, but for the Union, would have been
d >.io by the Crown, which we are now called
upon to do by Act of Paritament Having
■su- shortly laid before your Lordships the
> r nund t»a w i;c ! i ho rnoasure Ins my concur.
•see, I shad h staie not to say that as 1 oav-
;u doubt nl the expediency and justice of tm
ue«i-u e, so 1 h ive as little ol iu ultimate sue
cess. (Cheers.)
IS*® Si! IP ran.
ETILLEDGEVILLE:
THURSDAY, MAY SG, 1831.
fcdf* From this date the subscribers will be jointly
concerned in editing the F&deral Uni jn.
JOHN G. POLHILL,
JOHN A. CUTHBERT.
GEORGIA LEGISLATURE.
Candidates to represent the county of Baldwin.
For the Senate,
Gen. JAMES C. WATSON,
For the House or RlprescntatiteS,
Cut. EZEKIEL E. PARK,
Cupt. WILLIAM W. CARNES.
In consequence of the Editor’s necessary absence for
some days past as a witness at the Federal Court, several
communications from valued correspondents lie over.—■
They shall receive due attention.
The Weather has been of the most extraordinary char
acter during the whole spring. In the course of the pre
sent week, lire* hare bet-n necessary during the morning
and evening, and a part of tho week have been very com
fortable duiing Ihe whole day. On Tuesday morning, b» -
uvet u Tautl 0 o’clock, the Mercury stood at 52° — on
Wednesday at 10 o’clock, A. M. it stood at 6i°.
Postage.—We must again remind our correspondents
of the necessity of paying postage on all lettn s and com
munications sent to this office. Impositions aiesome-
liibes practised upon us, and in order to entitle any Inter
to the Editors bereaRir to be taken from tiie Post office,
they must be marked, “paid.” Letters intended fur the
Editors s tould be so addressed. Letters ou profession tl
business should be addressed to us as .Attorneys. Private
tetters should be addressed individually, withoutony par
ticular designation, aud ought to be marked on the out
side—*private.”
l»Ug!»t<;r ) Y s,
o«i shuil liu v
tmi^, and Hucifo
people will like you H9 well for tins, as if you t perhaps. On no, my L rd; i hy'-impit in* n « u
bad pul them all in your cauldron together? j °fdoors, and par'irularly thoM- on the Sio<
You are doing all you can to protect your plan Exchange, w--uld bova answered, rnnleton.-
from the a«s»ults of enemies within doors, but
you are not doing that which the people wdi
expect from you? (Hear, hear, hear ) Now, i
confess, that if my Noble Friend had an op
portunity of savj ig this, I should have folt it
difficult to answer it. Well, but those who
oppose the measure talk about some reform,
#:>d yet k^ep carefully out ol view even the
outline of any plan which they would be inclin
ed to accede to. NTw J pnt it to them wheth
er they are not in the # dileruma ;—they admit
that there in the country a very strong feeling
in favor of reform—aye of rather an extensive
system of reform—for I Li« indeed, is the only
ground upon which anti reformers now pro
claim themselves willing to listen to reform at
all Do they suppose that any plan short of; ,er )
disfranchisement will sntisfy Hie people?—Iff N -w, I contend, that the character of the
not, thi-i is one of the horns of the dilemma, ■'Legislature cannot he unimpaired if such a
upon which their admission of the strong feel- j co^e occurs but o;,ce. It the system admits
rng in favor of reform has fixed them. Now j of the possibility of such an occurrence that
mark the other horn, the goring horn of this ! alone is a sufficient''reformation of it Bii' the
diiemma, as it appears to me, and I leel lor j grand principle on which this measure of re-
ha v
they are, m »riey; but in lin» cans ' the dis
count wa* r t nr wnc y but a m n (llmr, am
it was said to the purchaser
a term; y_ u -hail go out for a
*r .-h.tU go m; and so the ■ ffni
shall g:; on, and the* it: conn? ne takrn until flu
J, m ' to- ihe prompt comes ’ (Hear, and laugh-
tcr j N .w (hi I am credibly in o med is a fact;
and your L-<rd>diips thit-k it a very Lughable
mailer. . U*jt why i - it so? I, is oniy l.tughabn
on act ociii of i!s gro -s and ff igraut iiicongrui
1y: ami tj>*> iiic )figruity consists in a man hav
mg been tin* represent, )!lve of 5 per cent, on
40,000/ or 60,000 lor a tew months, instead of
being, what lie ought to have been, a reprosen
tative ol the people. (Hear, and much iaugh-
gtve a
of tiia-
those who are threatened hv it. (Laughter)
They must begin the work of dislranchisemeut
—and how? Would they disfranchise all the
boroughs on one side—all the boroughs of
their foes? No. for that Would be such- an
apparent job, that it would not he tolerated for
a moment. Every body would cry shame up
on it.—Well, then, they must take some from
one side and some from the other (do i ) fi st
a friend and then a foe—thus converting for-
fer friends into foes; but not making nuy iriends
among their former foes; and they might be
compelled to sacrifice—unless*pity for a recent
purchase withheld lhcii hand—even Gallon it
self (Laughter ) Bui no tnakter in what way
they disfranchised; disfranchise they must, aud
then what would become of their principle—of
the arguments that were founded on spolia
tion—the invasion of property—and the vio-
tion of the spirit of the constitution? (Hear,
h’-nr ) Now, one word at parting with tins di
lemma. Let me tell those noble and honorable
proprietors of boroughs who now talk about
m iderate reform, & who are sincere; for 1 speak
B ,; °I* those who assume the garb of moderate
reformers for the mere purpose ol catching votes
form is built, is not the lopping off cxcrv-seti-
ces. nor the converti g of close boroughs into
opeu boroughs, nor the. removal of non resr-
dent voters,nor the diminishing of the expend
ot elections, by taking the poll in districts, and
by other particulars into which I will not enter.
Great and important as these consequences of
Hie l id are, they are not (lie main, the most
valuable features of it: hut the great and broad
principle of the hill—that in which the beauty
ol it chiefly consists, is the letting of lar c e
quantities ol his Majesty’s subjects, who have
been hitherto altogether unrepresented. Large
towns, densely peopled—marts of commerce
emporia of manufactures—honest and amiable,
and industrious men, who, in time of peace,
contribute to advance the prosperity of their
country, by the sweat of their brow, and who.
m war, defended their country bv the sinews of
their arms, and by the blood in the.r veins;
who b cause they have not been congregated
into masses, ii certain small districts of the
POLAND.
The folloxv ing extract is trom Warsaw. March
•21:
A 'ew days ago, several military or L*rs were
! ' ibutod a: Warsaw, in the presence ol Gon-
•Giplgu<« ZHWski, to t h(* r- g'lxienis »u
. rri>ori. Ou mu 9.lay the 3J -qnadron of the
6 n regioii fit < j Ihiiann, called * Tue sons o!
Warsaw, ’ loti the cap.tal. We learn from Ci
•etlaumv. that o th< 8• ti 500 CuSsacks pcii<;-
’rated into that place, bill were soou driven
u: k i.v • he cavalry «>} Angudowo. On tin
17!h. a heavy cannonade was heard in the f!i-
-*eciion . t' O-irbienka. A letter from Puicw.
■* Ihe 10.h instant, says: O ir town has bee:,
-urvorai iimrs ttic tiie.urc of devastation. O =
rtie last attack, the inhabitants called for a-sis
:ar.ee on the V s ula Although their cries
o• re ocard by tiie brigade staiiont-.d on the op
posite side of the r.v r, under Ranckow.-ki
tie l iter c<..ui>'l not-afford ih> rn assistance, as
the ice was no longer passible. The inha-
•utanls of the Palatinate >.| Podlachia. where
'he war r.iged with peculiar t
gloomy de»c>i » ion of the condi
country. Tim villages are mostly destroyed
M«d the people ruined. The pea-auts, in des
pair, urc qu Ping tln-ir abodes, anti wandering
in Ihe woods, where, tiffiked by hunger, !tiev
attack small detachments of soldiers and plun
•ior them. For sonfe time past, the sittings ot
the Diet have been interrupted. The Nuncios
alone meet privately ior di-cussion, and, it is
• sserted, that the committee will soon draw
up a law for conferring the right oi holding
anded property upon the peasants. Ou the
7th inst. the Minister ol the Interior installed
be new Muubipal Council, in tho Town Hall
The Director oi the Politec nic School, M K -
elan Garbiuski, has beeg chosen Presidetn ”
I he same paper, under date of fhe 6ih inst am,
rom bi Petersburg, says: “ We learn by the
atest advices received* here that the Grand
Duke Michael arrived at Kowoo on the 9ih at
i blight On the foiluwiug day he couduct-
• d the two regiments of the guard, Ismaifoff
Pawl< ff, ami a brigade of artillery, over the
kingdom of Po’ar.d, and then re‘urn*td to Krw-
no Ihe Counsellor ol State, Fuhrma/iri,
and Count Strogauoff, aid de-camp to his M.«-
je-ay, t»ave been appointed members ol the
Provisional Government Ol Poland In behalf
ot the provinces, bordering on Poland, v z :
Volhynia, Grodno, and Biaistock. which are
subject to the passage of numerous troops,
and to military-contributions of every descrip
tion, tiie Government has ordained, that, dur
ing the present general levy of recruits, in
stead of three men out of five huudred, as the
•aw directs, only two are to be raised.
SPAIN.
In the Federal Union of the 14lb April, we published a
bhort speech made by Mr. Bozetnun of Pulaski (in the last
Legislature) on the bill to add a part of Houston co. to Pu
laski. Byway of apology to Mr. Bozeman who handed it
to us for publication, »ve added the followingshoi(editorial.
“Wc publish today the debate on the Bill to add a part of
Houston county to Pulaski. It was banded to us at the
dose of the session—but was mislaid—so that we have
not given it earlier. But it is never too late to do good.”
To our great surprise, and we may add, mortification,
some of our patrons have taken off .nee, because wc made
this brief upotogy to Mr. Bozeman for the delay in pub
lishing his speech—and the expression—* It is never too
late to do good,'’ has been tortured into an “editoria! s=>.nr-
i.ion” of “alt” that was contained in that speech. Noth
ing can be more unfounded—and we arc bound injustice
to the good understanding of the offended to believe that
four impressions were laken without proper time for re
flection. If they wit! review these four lines, they will
perceive at onre that the expression which gave off-nce,
applied solely aitd exclusively to the dtiay in the publii a-
tiqn, and had not, nor could it have Ihe most remote allu
sion to Mr. Wellborn’s character, or the. contents’of the
speech it-elf. So far from this, we went as far ns wi
were authorised, in softening the asperity of the debate.—
v j one regretted more than we diJ the conflict of feeling
between those friends. We believed and still b-beve that
uoth Mr. Coze mat. an ! t Mr. Wellborn were in dhcli irg.
of tlnu'r duty in tae difl’erent courses they took, as repre
senting the wills of their different constituents When
therefore we said, “if is never too late to do good," w<
meant nothing more nor less, than that it was not too late
to redeem our promise to publish Mr. Boz-mnn’s re
marks. Thus mt.rh we felt to be our duty on account of
’he delay in the publication from having mislaid the mam.
sc ipt.
Iu regard to Mr. Wellborn, we fee! it a duty on this oc
casion to say, that we entertain for him as a politician, n
citizen, and ( vo may add) a friend, the highest rrspeet.
We co.'Id have no ioterest, as we have no inclination to
impugn his character, or bis motives. IVe entertain simi
lar respect for Mr. Bozeman.
The citizens of FreJt.riesburg, Virginia, h^ve made an
ippeal to the Aru riear. people far contributions to erect #
monument fc the memory of the Mother of Washington.
fhe subject addresses itself to the best feelings of the
American public. We shall notice it more particularly in
our q- xt.
• ■■ it >»**u Mt,i^iii i*r uij |U||,
I'- course of our editorial labors wc have fieqo
ly alluded to this important subject, with a warintl
Dinner to .Mr. Berrien.—On the 4rh inst. the citizens
if S-Y.iiin/it) gave to tneir feliow-ciuzen, fotin M. Berri
en. t! hs Exchange, a Public Dinner. These tokens of
respect have, wc think, in ou- day Le* n so much abused
fur politic >1 efT c’, that, wc take Jiltie pleasure in noticing
them. Nor -tiould we Ihmk a particular remark nec.es
vary on this a eras, on but for the view taken by Mr. Ber
nm of fhe causes now operating on the city of Savannali
nd on the State a* J .rge, to produce the decline of pros-
•; rity so much c uipi dried of and so little understood a-
nnng us. YVcrrgret that we have not room to give en
ure the proceedings, at tins entertainment, but must con
tent ourselves with calling the reader’s attention to th>
spr-ch of the t'lem d guest of the company. We claim
their special attention to the means suggested for the re-
•noval of the heavy embarrassments >elt by our commer-
r i.d and .ig-.-ul ura! citizens. VVc have before given our
opinions on this su j ct. and are gratified lo find thrn.
thus ah v supported oy cne whose character for talent**
mav add weight l*> hia opi ion.
rent-
. . . . _ rrntb of
feeling cah olat* d to evince the d.*» p interest *e feel ir*
the prospent v of Savannah. We have looked on her pros-
p> rity as iden'ifii.d with the universal prosperity of t'u
•Mat.: and we h..ve looked to the united of State
• nd individual cxerti*>ns as theooly means of .‘cc mplisli
mg so important 3n enterprise. In a recent visit to that
city, we could hut be impressed with the Luspira’ity > ffcrr
citizens, while uc mourned over the melancholy rtfl c-
ti >ns - iggested by meeting a umnbor of oar up-country
friends actually passing through Savannah to Charleston,
for the transaction of commercial business.
Notwithstanding a ! l this, the position we have rnnin-
t.iined toward this subject seems not to have been under'
stood, or to have been passed by silently by thos.- most in
terested in it. We have no responses from other presses,
nut even from those of Sav«nnali. How can i: be expect
•d th >t the community and the Legislature will take hold
on a subject of such vital importance, when no exertions
are made by th • vehicles of p iblic opinion to bring it be
fore them? H e invite a'teinion again to it—and we ac
cord with Mr. Bzrrien, that “whoever shall succeed in
iirakmg ihe attention of the Legislature to this vitally
important subject, and shuM Imve the good fortune to tf-
cherisbed spot, which is endeared (o us all. by
a thousand recollections. I have the gr.it loca
tion to see, in this assembly! many ot those
who have been my companions in the journey
oflife. I meet you, therefore, w:th no ordin
ary emotion, and with little qualification for
the discharge of the duly which your kindness,
and the custom of the festive board, have de
volved upon me. The stranger who v.sits our
city, contemplates it ns the abode of hospital
ity, and the home of the domestic virtues; and
leaving it, carries with him a lively remem
brance of the intelligence and the courtesy
which constitute the charm of its social inter
course. But to me, it presents itself with all
those awakening recollections which are con*
necled with the idea of homf*—- of youthful
friendships, and the graver associations of ma-
tnrer years; with fhe cherished remembrance
ofthe bt'st and happiest portion of my life—
of bright and sunny hours, which are destined
never to return
1 wish I could have found you, Gt ntlemeD,
in the enjoyment ot that prosperity, which the
natural advantages of our location, and the in
telligence and enterprise of our citizens entitle
us to claim. There was a time when the suc
cess of our agt(cultural, and the consequent
prosperity of our commercial operations, gave
animation to every thing around us—vyheii the
busy hum of commerce was heard in our streets
and its fruits were exhibited iu the rapid im
provement of our ci v—when here, as well as
elsewhere, all the comforts and enjoyments of
life, were placed within the reach of individuals
exertion. Why does lhi« state of things no
longer exist in the same degree as heretofore*!!
Why is it that stillness now pervades those
places, which in times past were the scenes of
buMlu and activity? Whence comes i>, thm
the best exertions of the planter, aud the most
intelligent efforts ol the merchant, foil to re
ceive the rewards which heretofore awaited
them?
I will not do violence to the social feeling,
to which this occasion is devoted, by the dis
cussion of a much agitated and highly agita
ting question, which is connected with this
MihjecL I purposely limit myself to the en
quiry, whether some of the evils which wo suf-
ter may not have resulted from our failure to
keep pace with the changes which l ave oc
curred elsewhere, and especially in tiie other
States of the Union? Extending our view
to the State at large, whether we have not re
lied too s?»ijch on the value of our products,
and the natural advantages of our position;
and looking rather to our past prosperity, lbun
to those uoweicomc indications which inenac-
**d its continuance, have remained to a certain
degree stationary, while others have been ad
vancing in the career of internal improvement?
1 do not disguise from myself the fact, that the
change in our condition, hasten greatly ii.ffij-
enced by Causes over which we could ex
ercise no control; by the altered political and
commercial state ol tiie other portions ofthe
world. Constituting a part of the great f.mi-
:y oI nations, we cannot he insensible to that
vvhich mateii illy alfocts its other members; for
tiiat law ol his nature which ordains that man
shad h* a social being, forbids that, either as
an individual or ns a member of sori ty, he
should be wholly independent of Li* follow
nit n
fcitiil it may he Wurth the inqu'ry, whether
all which w s have lost can fo* j istly imputed
‘° this causef and especially, whether some-
ihing may not be regained by intellijjflnt and
unreinitted exertions to facilitate our inferior
communications, and to improve the ocean m-
!f f, on which wc are so advantageously posted?
When the great staple product of.our Stale
commanded three times the price which can
now bo obtained for it. the difficulties of com
munication were overcome, because the value
of the article compensated the labor and ex
panse; which were necessary to the accom
plishment of tl L object. Our storehouses
were then filled with t he fruits of our agiicu!-
•uro, and here, also, were sought, as an almost
pe ssary consequence, those supplies wnich
citizens derived trom tho skill aud industry
>ur
haVO not ! ,e 11 though! wur A letter of the 26fh March, from Bayonne.
r ! ? Hfc e ** 5 ‘ le i *" H '. e •' gislativ* -ays: “A report prevails that the Spanish Con-
L ■■ r- A ^ . (*•!!' I? 1 1 ,‘al l R L.vf n L a L — J ______ _A a « w» -
council of the nation,
copyholders are
afion. (Cheers) Thus too, J Tuiimalisls who had escaped the Royalists,
fot m thus leaseholders are {have taken possession of Malaga."
(ect a successful result, wit! deserve lo be r rtk. d ainoii"
tiir benefactors of the ag- and will justly acquire tonin’
sei! an enviable place in the esteem and affiri-tiuna cfour
ueojde.”
Tne following toast was announced by John Cum mine
E**q President of the d.-iy.
' Our Guest—We esteem him for his virtues, we honor
him for his services.”
Mr Berrien *h**n ro^e and responded to the
observations Item the chair, and the senti-
ments ofthe company, iu nearly the following
I thank you very cordially, Gentlemen, for
this expression of your kindness. 1 could n<>t
he insensible to the approbation of so respec-
able an assemblage id any portion of my lei*
iow citizens, but such a reception from this
community, leaves me without tiie power ode
q jutely to express my grateful sense of the
honor which it confers. It brings with it, how
r'ver, thd cheering conviction, that 1 am in the
niidit ol those, to whom I may safely confi.h
Hie interpretation of my feelings. Accept,
’hen, Gentlemen, the simple acknowledge
meins of my gratitude, for this renewed man.
testation ot your unwearying kindness. I shotil*
vainly attempt to express to you my feeling
m this occasion, but your own hearts will bea
witness, and 1 cheerfully submit myself to then
estimony.
Returning, after an abscence which ha 1
seemed to ta a to be a protracted one, lo this
<>t oilier nations. Our ci?y was then the great
mart of the agricultural product tons of our
Si ale. as well as of those foreign supplies
hich then reached us, in no'inconsiderable
quantity, by direct importation. But Hi- is
unhappily a picture of bygone times; a stale of
things which we can scarcely expect to see
realized again, in ail it? former extent. Tho
condition of the world affords liitlo prospect of
any material advance in the market value of
iur principal staple Apart, then, from such
improvements in agriculture, as may reduce
He cos.1 of production, its value to the pro-
‘ucer is chi, fly to be increased, by facilitating,
and thereby diminishing the expense cf \ i
transportation to an eligible market. Else-
n >crc this truth has be<*n folt and acted upon,
and vve are in no inconsiderable degree, the
victims of the diversion, which it has alreadv
occasioned... Does it become us 1 speak of
our fellow-citizens throughout the State, to a*
w„i; in list loss inactivity, the consummation of
this result?
L is now several years ago, since a distin
guished engineer, who had been engaged in
making surveys in various parts of the Union
pronounced this port to be the appropriate At
lantic outlet ot the Southern and Southwestern
Suites, and the truth of this opinion, would ere
this have been demonstrated, ii the requisite
exertions been made, to improve those in
terior communications, which are suggested by
he natural advantages of our position. Such
an operation however in Ihe extent, which
ought to be given to it, belongs emphatically
to the State, because the capital W'hicli it would
r quire, transcends the resources of our city,
and because also, the benefits which it would
confer, would be coextensive wdh the whole
hue of communication,* May we not hope that
: his subject will find favor in the councils of our
^tate, and that some portion of the ample fund,
which must ere long be placed at our disposal,
will be set # apart for purposes of iuternal ioi-
fov* ment. Whosoever shall succeed in awa-
•tening the attention ofthe Legislature to this
tally important subject, and shall have tiie
^uod fortune to effect a successful result, will
loserve to be ranked among the benefactors of
he age. and will justly acquire to himself an
inviabio place in the esteem and affections of|
ur people.
i hope I shall not be considered to have giv-
I