the shadowing forth of the mighty future. In
the bright prospects of that future we shall find,
as patriots and philanthropists, the highest inducements
to cultivate and cherish a love of union and to frown
down every measure or effort which may be made to
alienate the States or the people of the States in
sentiment and feeling from each other. A rigid
and close adherence to the terms of our political
compact and, above all, a sacred observance of the
guaranties of the Constitution will preserve union
on a foundation which can not be shaken, while personal
liberty is placed beyond hazard or jeopardy.
The guaranty of religious freedom, of the freedom of
the press, of the liberty of speech, of the trial
by jury, of the habeas corpus, and of the domestic
institutions of each of the States, leaving the private
citizen in the full exercise of the high and ennobling
attributes of his nature and to each State the privilege
(which can only be judiciously exerted by itself)
of consulting the means best calculated to advance
its own happiness—these are the great and
important guaranties of the Constitution which the
lovers of liberty must cherish and the advocates of
union must ever cultivate. Preserving these and
avoiding all interpolations by forced construction
under the guise of an imagined expediency upon the
Constitution, the influence of our political system
is destined to be as actively and as beneficially felt
on the distant shores of the Pacific as it is now
on those of the Atlantic Ocean. The only formidable
impediments in the way of its successful expansion
(time and space) are so far in the progress of modification
by the improvements of the age as to render no longer
speculative the ability of representatives from that
remote region to come up to the Capitol, so that their
constituents shall participate in all the benefits
of Federal legislation. Thus it is that in the
progress of time the inestimable principles of civil
liberty will be enjoyed by millions yet unborn and
the great benefits of our system of government be extended
to now distant and uninhabited regions. In view
of the vast wilderness yet to be reclaimed, we may
well invite the lover of freedom of every land to
take up his abode among us and assist us in the great
work of advancing the standard of civilization and
giving a wider spread to the arts and refinements
of cultivated life. Our prayers should evermore
be offered up to the Father of the Universe for His
wisdom to direct us in the path of our duty so as
to enable us to consummate these high purposes.
One of the strongest objections which has been urged against confederacies by writers on government is the liability of the members to be tampered with by foreign governments or the people of foreign states, either in their local affairs or in such as affected the peace of others or endangered the safety of the whole confederacy. We can not hope to be entirely exempt from such attempts on our peace and safety.