Although it is not entirely compatible with the precautions which
are enjoined by the delicate state of my health, to which you
have so obligingly alluded, to present myself in this attitude,
I cannot refrain from making a public expression to you, and to my
fellow-citizens here assembled, of my profound acknowledgments for
the hearty welcome and the cordial, spontaneous, and enthusiastic
manifestation of respect and attachment with which my present visit to
your city has been attended. It has been frequently, but not less truly
said, that the highest reward for public service, is the approbation
of the public. The support of public opinion is the greatest incentive
to the faithful and beneficial discharge of official duty. If, as you
have truly suggested, it has been my misfortune for several years,
to have been abused and assailed without example, I have nevertheless
had the satisfaction to have been cheered and sustained, in all parts
of the union, by some of the best and most virtuous men in it. And I
seize with pleasure this occasion to say, that, even among my political
opponents, many of the most moderate and intelligent have done me the
justice to discredit and discountenance the calumnies of which I have
been the object. But nowhere have I found more constant, ardent, and
effective friends than in this city. I thank them most heartily for all
their friendly sentiments and exertions.
Whatever may be the issue of the contest which at present unhappily
divides and distracts our country, I trust that the beneficial system,
to which you have referred, will survive the struggle, and continue
to engage the affections, and to cheer and animate the industry of
the people of the United States. It has indeed been recently attacked
in another quarter of the union, by some of our fellow-citizens,
with a harshness and intemperance which must every where excite the
patriot’s regret. It has been denounced as if it were a new system,
that sprung into existence but yesterday, or at least with the present
administration, if not during the last session of congress. But it owes
its origin to a much earlier date. The present administration, though
sincerely attached to it, and most anxious for its preservation, has
not the merit of having first proposed or first established it. The
manufacturing system was quickened into existence by the commercial
restrictions which preceded the late war with Great Britain, and
by that greatest of them all, the war itself. Our wants, no longer
supplied from abroad, must have been supplied at home, or we must have
been deprived of the necessaries and comforts of civilization, if we
had not relapsed into a state of barbarism. The policy of Jefferson
and Madison fostered, if it did not create, the manufactures of our
country. The peace brought with it a glut of foreign fabrics, which
would have prostrated our establishments, if government had been
capable of unjustly witnessing such a spectacle, without interposing
its protective power. Protection, therefore, was not merely called for
by the substantial independence of our country, but it was a parental
duty of government to those citizens who had been tempted by its
restrictive policy to embark all their hopes and fortunes in the
business of manufacturing. Twelve years ago congress took up the
subject, and after long and mature deliberation, solemnly decided to
extend that measure of protection which was alike demanded by sound
policy and strict justice. Then the foundations were laid of the
American system; and all that has been subsequently done, including
the act of the last session of congress, are but the consequences
of the policy then deliberately adopted, having for their object the
improvement and perfection of the great work then begun. It is not the
least remarkable of the circumstances of these strange times, that some
who assisted in the commencement, who laid corner-stones of the edifice,
are now ready to pull down and demolish it.
It is not the fact of the existence of an opposition to the tariff,
that can occasion any inquietude; nor that of large and respectable
assemblies of the people, to express their disapprobation of the
policy, and their firm resolution to consume only the produce of
their own industry. These meetings are in the true spirit of our free
institutions, and that resolution is in the true spirit of the American
system itself. But what must excite deep regret is, that any persons
should allow themselves to speak of open and forcible resistance to the
government of their country, and to threaten a dissolution of the union.
What is the state of the case? A great measure of national policy is
proposed; it is a subject of discussion for a period of twelve years,
in the public prints, in popular assemblies, in political circles,
and in the congress of the United States. That body, after hearing
the wishes and wants of all parts of the union, fairly stated by
their respective representatives, decides by repeated _majorities_,
to adopt the measure. It is accordingly put into successful operation,
improved from time to time, and is rapidly fulfilling all the hopes and
expectations of its friends. In this encouraging condition of things,
a small number of the citizens composing the minority, (for I will not
impute to the great body of the minority any such violent purposes,)
threaten the employment of force, and the dissolution of the union! Can
any principle be more subversive of all government, or of a tendency
more exceptionable and alarming. It amounts to this, that whenever
any portion of the community finds itself in a minority, in reference
to any important act of the government, and by high coloring and
pictures of imaginary distress, can persuade itself that the measure is
oppressive, that minority may appeal to arms, and if it can, dissolve
the union. Such a principle would reverse the established maxim of
representative government, according to which, the will of the majority
must prevail. If it were possible that the minority could govern
and control, the union may indeed as well be dissolved; for it would
not then be worth preserving. The conduct of an individual would not
be more unwise and suicidal, who, because of some trifling disease
afflicting his person, should, in a feverish and fretful moment,
resolve to terminate his existence.
Nothing can be more unfair and ridiculous, than to compare any of
the acts of the congress of the United States, representing all, and
acting for all, to any of the acts of the British parliament, which
led to our revolution. The principle on which the colonies seceded
was, that there should be no taxation without representation. They
were not represented in the British parliament, and to have submitted
to taxation, would have been to have submitted to slavery, and to have
surrendered the most valuable privileges of freemen. If the colonies
had been fairly represented in the British parliament, and equal taxes,
alike applicable to all parts of the British empire, had been imposed
by a majority, a case of remote analogy to any act of congress to
which a minority is opposed, might be deduced from the history of the
revolution. But every state of this confederacy is fairly represented,
and has the faculty of being fully heard in the congress of the United
States. The representation has been regulated by a joint principle
of distribution, the result of a wise spirit of mutual compromise and
concession, which I hope never to see disturbed, of which none can
justly complain, and least of all, those citizens who have resorted to
threats of an appeal to arms and disunion.
But there is, I hope and believe, no reason to apprehend the execution
of those empty threats. The good sense, the patriotism, and the high
character of the people of South Carolina, are sure guarantees for
repressing, without aid, any disorders, should any be attempted within
her limits. The spirit of Marion, and Pickens, and Sumpter, of the
Rutledges, the Pinckneys, and of Lowndes, yet survives, and animates
the high-minded Carolinians. The Taylors, and the Williamses, and their
compatriots of the present day, will be able to render a just account
of all, if there be any who shall dare to raise their parricidal hands
against the peace, the constitution, and the union of the states.
Rebuked by public opinion――a sufficient corrective――and condemned
by their own sober reflections, the treasonable purpose will be
relinquished, if it were ever seriously contemplated by any.
I have no fears for the permanency of our union, whilst our liberties
are preserved. It is a tough and strong cord, as all will find who
shall presumptuously attempt to break it. It has been competent to
suppress all the domestic insurrections, and to carry us safely through
all the foreign wars with which we have been afflicted since it was
formed, and it has come out of each with more strength, and greater
promise of durability. It is the choicest political blessing which, as
a people, we enjoy, and I trust and hope that Providence will permit us
to transmit it, unimpaired, to posterity, through endless generations.
I thank you, Mr. Chairman, for the flattering opinion which you
have expressed of my public services, and especially of those which
I have endeavored to render to the west. Whilst I am sensible that you
appreciate them much too highly, it is at the same time true, that I
have sought, on all occasions that appeared to me proper, to advance
the interests of that section, of which I am proud to be a citizen,
whenever I have thought it could be done without prejudice to the
predominant interests of the whole. I have, nevertheless, in several
important instances, given my most zealous support to measures, (the
navy, and the late war, for example,) in which the west could not be
regarded as having any distinct or other interest, than that which
belongs to the honor, the prosperity, and the character, of the whole
confederacy. During the short period of the present administration,
I hope I may be permitted to say, without meaning to claim for it
exclusive merit, that more has been done and recommended for the west,
than ever was done during the whole preceding period of our present
constitution, with the exception only of the acquisition of Louisiana,
under the administration of Mr. Jefferson. I have not strength or time
to enter into details to establish the general proposition; but those
who will take the trouble to examine the appropriations of land and of
money, for objects of internal improvement and education, the measures
which have been adopted or recommended, in respect to the public domain,
the judiciary, and so forth, will find that proposition fully sustained.
There are here many who, by a too flattering estimate of my capacity,
decided me worthy of the office of chief magistrate, and, during the
last presidential canvass, honored me with their support. To them
I take this occasion to say, that, if instead of the present abused
chief magistrate, they had obtained the preference, the measures of
the administration would not have been, in any essential particular,
different from those which have been adopted. All the principal acts
and measures of the existing administration, have met with my humble
and hearty concurrence.
Cultivating a farm in Kentucky, and having other objects of private
concern, I have found it necessary, both on that account, and the
relaxation from official business, indispensable to the preservation of
health, annually to visit this quarter of the union, during the period
of my connection with the executive of the United States. In these
visits, I have frequently met large portions of my fellow-citizens,
upon their friendly and pressing invitations. My object has been called
in question, and my motives assailed. It has been said, that my purpose
was electioneering. If it be intended to charge me with employing
improper or dishonorable acts, to secure my election, I deny the charge,
and disclaim the purpose. I defy my most malignant enemies to show that
I ever, during any period of my life, resorted to such acts to promote
my own election, or that of any other person. I have availed myself of
these assemblies, and of other opportunities, to defend myself against
an accusation, publicly made, and a thousand times repeated. I had a
right to do this by the immutable laws of self-defence. My addresses
to the public, heretofore, have been generally strictly defensive. If
they have ever given pain to any of my adversaries, they must reproach
themselves with its infliction. There is one way, and but one way, in
which they can silence me. My traducers have attributed to me great
facility in making a bargain. Whether I possess it or not, there is one
_bargain_ which, for their accommodation, I am willing to enter into
with them. If they will prevail upon their chief to acknowledge that
he has been in error, and has done me injustice, and if they will cease
to traduce and abuse me, I will no longer present myself before public
assemblies, or in public prints, in my own defence. That is one bargain
which I have no expectation of being able to conclude; for men who
are in a long-established line of business, will not voluntarily quit
their accustomed trade, and acknowledge themselves bankrupts to honor,
decency, and truth.
Some who have persuaded themselves that they saw in my occasional
addresses to the people, incompatibility with the dignity and reserve
belonging to the office I hold, I know not according to what standard,
(it can hardly be any deduced from a popular representative government,)
these gentlemen have regulated their opinions. True dignity appears
to me to be independent of office or station. It belongs to every
condition; but if there be a difference between private and public
life, the more exalted the station, the greater is the obligation
of the public functionary, in my humble judgment, to render himself
amiable, affable, and accessible. The public officer who displays a
natural solicitude to defend himself against a charge deeply affecting
his honor and his character, manifests, at the same time, a just
respect for the community. It is, I think, an erroneous judgment of
the nature of office, and its relations, to suppose that it imposes the
duty on the officer, of abstracting himself from society, and a stiff
and stately port. Without, I hope, forgetting what was due to myself,
my habit, throughout life, has been that of friendly, free, and frank
intercourse with my fellow-citizens. I have not thought it necessary to
change my personal identity in any of the various offices through which
I have passed, or to assume a new character. It may not be easy to draw
the line, as to the occasions in which a man should remain silent, or
defend himself. In the general, it is better, perhaps, that he should
leave his public acts, and the measures which he espouses or carries,
to their own vindication; but if his integrity be questioned, and
dishonorable charges, under high and imposing names, be preferred
against him, he cannot remain silent without a culpable insensibility
to all that is valuable in human life.
Sir, I feel that I have trespassed too much, both upon you and myself.
If prudence were a virtue of which I could boast, I should have
spared both you and me. But I could not deny myself the gratification
of expressing my thanks to my Cincinnati friends, for the numerous
instances which I have experienced of their kind and respectful
consideration. I beg you, sir, and every gentleman here attending, to
accept my acknowledgments; and I especially owe them to the gentlemen
of the committee, who did me the honor to meet me at Louisville, and
accompany me to this city. Whatever may be my future destiny, whilst
my faculties are preserved, I shall cherish a proud and grateful
recollection of these testimonies of respect and attachment.