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rp t n-t WWI?I WHB J> .1 More than twice has it been* interposed j to rescue the peoole from the domination and abuses of a National Bunk. It was in defence of our rights aftd our institu. lions, that the determination ofH late Executive to refuse his constitutional sanction K> the abolition of slavery in any of its forms, was s*? fearlessly avowed; and the* S'ate, I presume, can have no interest or motive to remove the few salutary eheck? and embarrassments to the so often unjust and inconsiderate legislation of * majority ..in Congress, as to induce it to I war against the dignity and prerogatives ; of a department, the weakest and inost conservative, perhaps, in the government. I also submit for the serious considers- ! tion of the Legislature, a copy of the com- j mn?iir>iitinn r?f th?> Ciovemor of Virginia. c?n the proceedings of the General Ass-emlily of thai State, on the subject of her late controversy with New York: nn:l Roports and Resolutions from the State of AJa Sima, responding to the views and declarations so solemnly announced l?v this State, on questions deeply involving the right of property, and the security of thedomestic institutions of the South. fe ^ ' Bound hv every consideration of duty, of * interest, of hoijfr, and of equity, to repel to flagrant a disregard of the rights of a aister State, we should always l>e ready and prompt to redeem the pledge of our alliance to a cause with which our interests are so intimately , identified. Rela tinn* of.amity cannot he preserved even hetween separate nations, in which the rights of property are not regarded asthev exist* under the respective laws of each; much less can sovereign States l>e permanently allied in n hond of Union, under the same laws,government, and constitution, where fugitives from the ^ justice, plunderers of the property, and violators of the laws, of one. find refuge and impunity under the sanciion of the constituted ** authorities of the other. No wrong is lP3re readily resented hv nations?no ir?. - justice can more dre, -y stain the faith, or * more essentially impair the friendly and intimate, relation of ro- federated Slates! It would he a reproach to the character * of our institution, if claim which are re. - cogn'zed and reciprocated h\ the com if v and justice of all civilized nations, should ' by scornfully refused and contemned hv T ?" States federated under the same laws and . r" constitution., If the obligations of the constitution which require one State to deliver, on demand, fugitives from the *' justice of a not her, are to he disregarded, ?our institutions assailed,?the plunder, ers of our property encouraged and pro. ? - tected,?then must we regard the perpe. trstor of tfiese aggression, Vno matter hv ' " * whom committed," as a foe to our rights ann an enemy to our peace. Whether the wrong in this case has Seen done to Vir. V' - ginin or South Carolina, rhe principle is the same, the interest involved common \; . toVmh, and the responsibility '?f protecting them should equally devolve on everv State in the Union, in which justice o\pr. rises d??monion, or similar ' tns'itutions ? . exist. Persisting in such a course of un : . provoked ho*t?'ifvfo the interests ami p. s! if tit ion* of the South, New York con only he regarded in the light of anv other aggressing power?in pence frirrj'J.t, hut eurmfat in var. Tl?e adoption. in all such in^ia nor*. of n similar course of vigi'nnce to that which the State of Virginia ha* instituted, would perhaps he a wise and necessary precaution, to present I'm tin* reruirenee of si mihir aggressions upon the propert%' and rights of our own * iti Zens and institutions. We ought, upon every principle of equity and of interest .. to make common cause with anv Stntp whoserightsand institutions are thus wantonlv violated and Hss.vled. ???. 1.:. L i lk:^ I ne position wmrn il imv Iifrimn: un? State assume, on nnv of the important tpiOitions presented, would seem to stiff. 4,'ost the importance and necessity of nil. livating and improving her means <>f safe1y and defence. It would he a mere mockery to vnunt of rights, liberty, or sovereignty, without the spirit, ability, or resources to defend them. It would he tetter nt once to endure threatened or impending ills, nnaggrnvoted hv opnnsilh?n, thnn hv unmeaning denunciations, ttc-d impotent exhibitions of resistance, to provoke and increase their bitterness ? Prohibited, both by the character of our institutions, and the restrictions of tile constitution, from resorting to any other means of cultivating our military resourocs thw-n that of n well trained and organized ra'dttia, it should he cherished to the highest state of perfection, and with a pride and assiduity to make it the most efficient. it is the only means of defending the rights, the: honor and sovereignty i/the State. The Jmprovcment in wni'-n it *o rapidly prog/essod, under the influence of the lute Brigade Encampments, offers the highest encouragement ' to the continuance of youi patronage, as ^ell as the hiippicst illustration of the beneficial effects of the mode i.n which it Unn hitherto hepn conferred. Assembled in these Normal Schools of drill and tuition, where a patriotic emulation was excited?where knowledge was imparted and reci'eved. under the criticism of the niest unproved and accomplished officers '?where such favorable opportunities uere afforded for discriminating the qual. iterations, both of the soldier and the citizen?and where that mnrtial pride jHtwl feeling was acquired, which is the beet, perhaps the only foundation of nn elnvated patriotism, combining so many motivLir. tira'ulanis advantages and incentive#?it is not surprising that from its resuit f should he enabled to give you a ^gratifying assurance that our militia now a:n 1/1 prists i/i its organization, a class of of. IjQCrs \v.hose knowledge and accomplishments woH'ld do credit trf any n^e, or ser vjc/j/or'country 4Vitb such inducements I ho fore us, it is deeply to So regretted, that j 1 an experiment prodaetive of so many ad. I f vantages and improvements, without any * detracting consequences whatever, should I have been pr? maturely abandoned. n Already are the effects of that abandon, h mont visible, in the waning enthusiasms of the service, nnd the resignation of s some of our ablest officers, from a consci. v entious regret and despondency, for the ^ future usefulness and efficiency of their, g exertions. Such indications as these t should be regarded as a solemn invocation ' " I' to restore a system from which the State has derived such important benefits.? Confined perhaps as those encampments e should be. to commissioned officers, it is '' not to he presumed that any officer would 1 he so insensible to the honorable pride of his vocation, or to the confidence which n the State ''reposes in his courage and fi- q delity," as to regret the privations and p inconveniences of five days camp service, h to learn the art of defending his country v and its institutions. With some slight c * ? J ? ? nikA/liii<intlAno o C t ko In lO klf IIIU StllUWIIJf 1111II1111 t.-f( 111 j 113 ti| IIIU which they were regulated, it is confident. ly hoped that they may be made the schools of correct morals, as well as of patriotism and military discipline. With ? the alteration or addition of such provis- 1 ions as.may promote this desirable, object, * the bill under .the consideration of the * Legislature, at the last sessio*r?, in Decern- I hit, and revised hy the Adjutant General, t with the accompanyiog report, is respect- r fullv referred to your consideration. i Amid all the portents of the time?the \ peril that every where surrounds our do- s mestic institutions?t ie emergency lha1 r inay call upon us to vindicate our rights y and principles?I cannot hut again and ? r.ost seriously invoke your attention, to I that organization of our military resonr , ces and defences, without a due regard to j i.which, no State action can be efficient * | and the assertion of sovereignty itself he i hut a bye word and i reproich, without dignity, and without effect. The contingency of a National War, i (remote and distant a? I trust it still is.) <a not lie overlooked, among the numer t ( ous other inducements to improve our , military resources. The most exposed, t |>erhaps, as we are, to its ravages, from the r neglected condition of our coast?the $ greatest sufferers, from the burdens which -,i its expenses are destined to impose?no e matter how provoked or originating, wheth- c er hy the amh tion of one power, or the t officious border aggressions of the other,there can be lam sure, no selfish or igno- J hlc considerations, that would ever re. c strain the niost generous contributions e upon I he part of this State, of treasure or f of arms, to save the national honor from r tarnish or disgrace. * Hy an Act of the Legislature, in De- t comber last, the dulv was devolved on 1 e ' . I this department, of pro|>osing for the nc- j c ceptance of the several Hanking Institu-. c tions of this State, nn Act tonmend their !i ('iiarfcrs, with a view* to prevent the fu. r ture suspension of specie payments. The f 1?;|ilk of the Stat , the South-Western v Iltil.Road Hank, the Union Rank, and in t it Planters1 and Mechanics1 Bank, with ! h a commendable desire to jconform to the \ p wishes and object* of the State, have, in ji good faith, and sincerity, accepted its pro. i visions, J r j In executing the instructions of the ; r Legislature, in that spirit of mildness F and forbearance in w!iich T am sure thev ' were conceived, I deemed it proper to T overlook the delay of a few weeks, after x , the precise period fixed hv law, for the ' aeceptance of the two latter institutions; ^ apprised as I was that it had arisen from uiiavouiah'ecircumstances, and not from ? n a willul nee!ect or refusal to comnlv with . ' r ' " i i the requisitions ??f the law. J ( ft is flue to the hicjh character which j these institutions have hitherto sustained, t and [ am sure reflects no injustice upon . t the motives of the Legislature, to state, c that the object of this enactment was to j < prevent anticipated evils, rather than to * punish pa-tor existing abuses. The Federa! Government having, in the exercise 4 of a wise and sound policy, abandoned ' that control over the currency which it 1 j had hitherto usurped, the necessity of a . stridor supervision o\(9 the monetary | affairs of this State, had become more ( obligatory upon those, to whom the peo- r j pie have entrusted the powor of regula- , | ting them. \ i In such a state of state of things, it j 1 could not Ik? deemed an unnecessary or r erfieiotH act ofcaution, upon tho part of c j I his State if she resorted to nil the ordinn- < j rv nnd legitimate means of rendering her I 1 own currency, sound, safe, adequate and t stable. The exercise of the means she ? i has hitherto delegated, in a great (nnd ( ' perhaps an imprudent) extent, to her ' j Banking institution, by the extraordinary t ! privileges and immunities with which she t has endowed them If the trust has here tofore been faithfully nnd nhlv executed, the merit is to he ascribed to the virtue t and fidelity of the agents, rather than to r the want of any power or opportunity, to r abuse it; or to*anv provisions in the laws, > to restrain or puish it. Under these cir- t cumctanc.es, fh'S State was perhaps necessarily forced to entertain the question, * whether she had irrevocably parted with I all power to regulate her own currency, * or delegated the power, without reserve i ro^imint onnfrnl. or SUDCVison. on her < part, for the term of yen/a for which she * has chartered her monied institution?.? ? If in fact there does exist th:8* imperium i,i imjierio, for the exercise of so torpor. I tant a pmver the people of this State 5 might well ask, upon what constitutional J: principles a soveriegn right, which can i only he exrrci-od legitimately by their J own Government, has been delegated to a agents, politically irresponsible to them, f i - V.- v - > * [n such an issue, it is not a very, remote or anciful anticipation, that if so important i right were indeed improyidently lost in aw, it would but too probably, in the ibsenceof any other resort, be reclaimed" ?y* revolution. The wisr.om and propriety of ivtaining ome checks and guards, similar to those vhich have been proposed, 'upon the oxraordijiary privileges with which this hate has endowed her charter ;d instituions, is [ presume universally admitted, n reference to those hereafter 'to ho char, ered.; It will readily however occur to very reflecting mind, that a p raspectivc ^gisiation in this respect, con Id remedy iono of i.he existing evds. The Banking Capital of the:' State is lore than equal to its exigenc ics and reuirements, and the most of those cor. orations in which it has boen vested, ave many years to complete the term for /hich they were chartered.' Such a disriminntion with regard tn future and exiting institutions, would therefore be as nefficimt as it would be invidious. If I have a just and proper conception f the objects of the proposed amendment, t was witb these views amd conceptions, hat the State-thought proper to require! hese salutary concessions' from her chnrered institutions, to.- her sovofeign auhority and supervisi on. Deri vmg extrairdinary privileges mid immunities from ler libi ralitv, she has pre-eminent and resistible claims upon their confidence j md gratitude. Tr? isted for a long course >f years* with the exercise of rights and I lowers and franchises sovereign in their j inture, and which can appertain to none . ?f her citizens individually, she may well | irge a mora', as w<;Il as political right, n he trusted in turn, with a discretion, vhich she cannot exercise for her own ntorest without promoting theirs. That, ;he has generously sustained them in all ! wist misfortunes and difficulties, is the j lighest evidence of her future kindness i md liberality; and should be the last j irefext invoked, to sustain either present j >r future acts of contumacy. And while j he interests of her citizens are so intinately connected with their stability nod ucce-K, the restraining Influence of a just ind enlightened poputu'r Idling, will he ivcr ready to.interpose, to prevent the :apricioiis exercise of legislative authoriy To these high considerations, may p*rlapshe ndded anotlier, of not less prn "ti:al im|)ortnnce; that the salutary infltinee of State authority would perhnps jreatly conduce, in times of e.xtrnordina. y calamity, to prevent those controverlies and dissensions between the- Banks hernselves, which were so unhappily ex smplified in the history of some of our >wn institutions, during the disastrous ivents of thp late suspension. That it las already exercised a salufary and judilions influence, mnv he inferred from the act, that under the operation of its proisions, the Banks of this State a/onef of ,11 the institutions South of the Potomac, inve in good faith and reality met en. jngements or demands for specie, without iretext or evasion. Whnfever may have been the motives or iccessitv which induced to the enactnent of this statute, the rejection of its (revisions, by some of thesu institutions, ins marie il a question of the gravest im. >ort, from the discussion and derision of vhirh. this State cannot, without a sacriice of h?r dignity and self-respect shrink, >r recede. In this aspect of the question, felt constrained, by every sense of duty, is well as of allegiance, to exercise all the tuthority with which I was entrusted by he Legislature or the Constitution, to tnforce the objects of the law through (ho -idicial tribunals of the State. ' With his view, I deemed it proper to engage he services of several of the most effi ient gentlemen of the Bar, as assistant counsel, to co-operate with the Attorney Teneral, and Solicitors. I regarded it is the more necessary to do so, as the ;eason of the year at which the Court vas held in Charleston, as well as the denands of their respective Circuits, would locessnrily deprive the State of the able tervices of some, if not of all, of the Soicitors. I had no authority to command heir presence and services in Charleston ; md under such circumstances of incon. enience, as those under which they vould have been rendered, I could not ) res nine officially to request them. The irdunus duties which would therefore have levolved upon the Attnrnev General, could not have been performed, even bv lis indefatigable zeal arid industry, but at he expense of every other duty and engagement. And although having every confidence in the talents and attainments vhich have so deservedly placed him at hp head of h's profession, yet the grave esponsihility of advocating the interests )f the people, and the dignity of the State, on a question of such vital impurance, I regarded as too great, as too soions, (and it was even deemed so by his nodest sense of his own merit.) to be dernlved on the abilities of a sinnle odvo o :nte. From the manner and ability with vhicli their duty has been performed, I lave derived the greatest satisfaction: ind the people and the State I trust, last, ng and essential benefit, from the ardu>us and able efforts with which their rights md interests have heen vindicated, and liscussed. In connection with tliese remarks, re. stive to the controversy into which this 1 State has been so unfortunately drawn, v the recuwncy of some of her Banking nstitutipns, jt way not he improper for -on to dire?ttyonr Kiews to the considerition of some permanent nnd prospective node, of regulating our cufreny, I as- , r j BBWWWiMBWWBMMKSPWIlB IWM J sum?, of course, thnt this State can nev j acquiesce in the existence of a Nation j Corporation, or admit the necessity subjecting its monetary affairs to the a hitrnrv 'and exclusive control of such t institution. Much of the pressure and difficul | under which our community has lahore j has arisen from the constraint imposi l unon the operations of our Banking insi tutions, by the dissensions, necessari incident to an inequality of Banking Ca j ital. There is probably no fact in tt economy of Banking operations mo incontrovertible, than that the business a moderate capital, under ordinnrv ci cumstances, is usually productive of tl highest rates of profits. And if, in 01 experience, there exists any exception #Vn> I r r?rx * Ho r?!/l r llllft rim:. III in v <11 <?l IIH7 ICTI^T I uunnii institutions, it is because the Into polie of the Strite, in cresting so vast a dirpr portion of capital as now exists, has sul stitutcd the dominion of the few, for tl honorable competition of all, and therel produced strife ?nd discord, where ni I thing but a generous emulation of pro! and usefulness, should prevail. The greatest profits of the bnnkir isyRt?'m are presumed to tor derived fro : its operations in efchanges. In propo ' tion to the exorbitancy of the rates pr doccd bv the derangement of the currei cy, and the pressure and difficulty of tl times: and in proportion to the advantag* of the capital bv which an institution ma monopolize that branch of business, i 1 may its interest and tendencies bcdirectc to protract, and even to increase thi ! state of disorder, from which it acquire its greatest gains. It cannot therefore I a wise policy which supplies to privai corporations, in excessive capital, tl oowcr, motives, and inducements to pr< fit by the embarrassments, or to exto from the necessities and inconvenience of the people. I do not mean by these general jiropi sitions, to imply a censure on the conduc or illustrate the abuses of any one of ot own institutions. The example of or of them, at least, during the late suspei sion, so fur from manifesting such a pol cy, cannot be too highly commended fi its forbearance in the use of its advm tages, as well as its wisdom and firmnps in maintaining the faith and credit of tl South. Still, an undue and dnngerot power over our currency, is neces.iari incident to the position of financial out* cracy which it occupies. And if thi power has not been tyrannically or co ruptly used to its injury, or the detrimei of the public, it has been owing sold to the discreet forbearance of those wh wielded it. and not to anv safeguards pre > ided hy the laws to restrain it. jK reduction of the capitals of the seven banking institutions of this State, (wei their charters to be renewed,) to sum common and moderate standard, Jess tha that of our State institution, would prol ably prevent the recurrence of future evi arising from t his cause. But in the men time, to strengthen the influence of 01 State Bank, either by an increase < capital or of ir.ninunities, is perhaps i present, the most e/fiencious, and themu means, of correcting existing ills, w ic legislative action cannot otherwise read without violating the chnr'ers which sam lion them. Whether lh.:s State shoul participate in banking o^ntions at a' cannot now he regarded a.n open or practical question. But whether sli .ia? Kf.r inulitnfinn. in tile I;)r ailWIIIU MWl ! ? ( Ml HM.c.w.., gunge of a distinguished statea'Mi.in, t "unbank" the abuses of the system, J* mil icy that deserves to be well consider."* Such a position it is presumed the Bun of thi? State would occupy, with a ma4 dignified, salutary and judicious effect Certain it is, in my estimation, that s long as the State engages nnd compete in banking operations, her insfitutioi should at least exercise a controlling in flucncc on her monetary affairs; or els present the strange political anomaly ?i the public Treasury, (with which it i practically identified.) nnd the people' money, subjected to the capricious an selfish domination of private corporation which, however bcnificiently exercisei heretofore, is always liable to abuse.That its present resources are inadequat to this object, is but too apparent fror the inconvenience and restrictions, t which, in all times of great pressure an difficulty, it has been subjected. Whether it may not he expedient, i the event of increasing its capital, to a.< sociate private interests, which may al ways exercise a salutary vigilance on it operations; or, bv merging, as their chai tors exmre. the whole hanking capital c I F ^ the State into one system, proportionate! controlled hv the Stockholders nnd Rep resenfatives of the people, are measure which I would suggest as worthy of you consideration. Such o system of finance if uniform!y adopted by the States, regu lated and modified by the influence of national Sub.Treasury system, it is he lieved would furnish the best and sounda currency in the world. The Report of the President of th Bank, will apprize you of the profits whic have accrued from the transactions r this institution for the past year ; and fo a revjpw of the circumstances and embni rassments pervading the community ur der which they have been realized, yo need not he referred to a monitor mnr faithful than your own experience. Sai isfactorv as those profits are, considerin the character of the times, they have hee derived from accommodations as hen ficent in their effects, as they have bee Mifely and judiciously administered, ft the benefit of the institution its If Wit! out resorting to any of the usurious expt dients of the times, its resources have believe been as faithfully and humnnel directed to protect the property of th citizen, as patriotically to subserve th interests of the Stnte. Prom thcaepeet of th? financial effai ? * ^ ; * ". ' ? .V -?' ei-; of the State, as'von will find presented f ml in the Comptroller'* Report? vou will! of | perceive the expediency of exercising the ' ir-' same rigid and judicious economy, in the | in disbursements of the revenue, which has ! hitherto prevented the necessity of inty i creased taxation. Additional burdens d, I upon the labor and property of the peo. 2d j pie, should not be imposed in times of ti- j such embarrassment and distress, except ly for objects of such primary necessity and p- importance, as affect the -permanent weal le and safety of the State, or any of the re great principleS of constitutimwl liberty. of Improved as our resources are, in comr parison to the aspect presented at the last le session, the Treasury is still far from ir having obtained a redundant and overto flowing condition. It will be found I trust ig however, ndequate to meet all such ne:y cessary exigencies, as cannot be neglected 0 . without consequences more ruinous, than b. the most wasteful and inconsiderate exle travagance. >y The condition of the public works and 1 n. improvements effected at so much cost to [it the Stale?some of which are still unfinished, others unprofitable, and many ig falling into decay?will demand your at- ' rn tention, either to abandon, repair, or ^ r- otherwise dispose of them. The sale or 1 r>. lease of many of them, under the super- < i- vision of commissioners appointed in the ie severnl communities in which they are 1 fw j located, at a price not less than the value, 1 y j (as estimated by the Comptroller or Su- 1 to | perintendent.) would perhaps be one of id j the most efficacious and satisfactory -* J? "C ...l.aumit fliQ Slolo fmm fnr. ni limi|?;3, ?# I mu W>?>v | 2s tlier embarrassment and expense. ?e The impracticable condition of the te road through Vance's Swamp, and its 1 le great importance, as the ordinary, and I ' 3- believe, the onlv channel of intercourse 1 * J ft with Charleston, to more than three Dis9, tricts in this State, as well as a large j portion of North Carolina, makes it high- 1 0- ly desirable that the libera I appropriations t, already made to improve it, should not tr be utterly lost, by the ruinous and inco ??. ie plete condition in which it now remains. More than twenty thousand dollars were ( 1- expended by the State, in constructing ' i ar the irrigwal mad ; from which it has de- ' i- rivtd neither benefit, or improvement.? i s, Ten thousand dollars was afterwards reie ceived by a contractor, for electing the i is skeleton of a Bridge which, having been Tfjf'Ctrd as perishable and dangerous, was ? i- abandoned and removed. Of the last ? it appropriation of twenty thousand dollars. 1 r- to embank the swamp, the contractor has i it received the first instalment, and after < iy accomplishing a very considerable portion I 10 of the work, at a ruinous expense to him) self, has been compelled to abandon it, from the exhaustion of his resources, the i 11 influence of recurring freshets, and an e inability to complete a contract so far ' ie exceeding the estimated cost and labor. 1 n The balance of the appropriation slill < )- remains in the Treasury; and if diverted j< Is from the object first contemplated by the j I n Legislature, will leave the State without j i tr a single corresponding benefit, to com- 1 if pensnte for all the sacrifices of treasusc, ' if which have been so ruinously sustained, 1 by both Stale and individuals. ' ! i No portion of the police or statistics of | i, the State, is presumed to require m< re ( radical reform, than our system of Road * Id. woiking. There is no object upon which ? I. so much labor and expense is so unprofit. j? n :ih!y bestowed, or so unequally contribu. ' 10 fed, by the different classes of society. < )- Notwithstanding the annual impositions ? o upon tho time, labor, and purses of our ' a citizens, thP condition of our roads is far t I. from manifesting a corrosuonding degree t .V of improvement. Nor is it less obvious, < it that much the greater portion of the bur- ? . .len which the present system devolves o upon the people, is sustained, almost I s exclusively, by the agricultural interest. ' n The ,'ahor or profits of the capitalist, or of ' i- the pi ofessions, (no matter how produc- ? e tiveor enormous,) are practically exempt < if from tbe^e assessments, which always < s recur, nnd which sometime* fall with t s much inconvenient force, upon the in- i d tcrests of the Planter. Nor are the oh- 1 s jections arising from principle, less co. I d gent than those which are so amply il- j' - lust rated, by the experience of its inefii- | < c ciency and inequality. The sover. ign < n power of taxing, even within a limited < o discretion, the property and labor of the ' d people, as possessed by the Board of ' Commissioners now established in the 1 n several Districts of the Stale, can never i- be safely or wisely reposed in any body ; * I. of men, however virtuous or discreet, not i s elected by the people themselves, and 1 - wholly irresponsible to any of the penal- { ?f ties of the low, or even to the conse- I y quences of impeachment, for any of the Is )- ordinary abuses of the trust. The pow. < h era entrusted to the Board of C'ommis- j1 r mission.:rs, are not only of a ministerial, 1 !, but, to the extent to which they are vest- ? i- ed, of a legislative character; and if they ^ a have not been hitherto abused, to the f i- oppression of the citizen, it is because 5 it the forbearance apd justice of the officers, 1 have imposed more salutary restraints, t e than the provisions of the law. Jfpowcs 1 h of the same character and extent, were ? if conferred on a military, or any other 1 r tribunal, accompanied with the self-per- f petvating prerogative of electing its own ' i- members, the liberties of the people, and I u the authority of the government, would f e i he regarded as deeply endangered or sub- < t- j verted. I do not know whether the ef. ' g j feets of the present system are most to 1 n j he deprecated, in the execrable condition 1 i- of most of our high-ways, or in the caprin rious, partial, and oppressive exercise, in j >r numerous instances, of the mostdespoti- ' >. rally and obnoxiously administered power, in the State. If, therefore the present I system must necessarily be continued, v from a supposed impracticability of de. le vising anv other, I would recommend that le the appointment of the members of the several boards, should devolve upon the r* people, at the same time, and under tho tame restrictions, as appertain to the elsetion of their Representatives. If it can not bo inspired with a spirit and energy<|t for usefulness, let it pt least be shorn and divested of its power and tendency tw evil. I cannot I trust too impressively invite your attention to a subject of so much practical importance; and while the improvement of roads, as one of the indispensable means of adyancing com merce, has justly been regarded in all ages of the world, as the evidence of increasing prosperity and civilization, the patriotic emulation which I am sure you are always ready to manifest in promoting the public weal, will direct your most sedulous exertion to the improvement of our own. * The revision of our criminal law, in many essential particulars, is required by the dictates of policy, as well as of human- * ity. The effects of timb and circum. stances, have produced so many modifications in the character of aome crimes,, that it is difficult, in many instances, either to piocure convictions, or enforce punishment. Where the penalty exceeds the sense of public justice, or where the feelings of commisseration for the culprit overpower the apprehension of const* quenccs to the safety or interests of the community, neither the wisdom of the Judiciary, or the firmnessof the Etecittive,*c8n prevtfht a law from becoming as obsolete as it is odious !JT this cms* or cases may perhaps he enumerated tome of the lesser grades of forgery, the punishment of which, as a capital offence, has gradually been ameliorated, even by the policy of those nations, from whose commercial exigencies, they were originated. Were it even necessary to have exceeded, in this instance, the infliction* of the divine command, in the enumerated offences to be expinted by death, it w hoped that the force of that necessity has gradually diminished, under the influence 0 of time and circumstances. . The trial of slaves for capital offences, in the ordinarily summary mode of process, and in the midst of all thoas circumstances of excitement in wlihh feelings of partiality or of prejudice are*?? apt to predominate must be admitted to lie capable of producing those perversions in the administration of justice, from which the rights of humanity and tie interests of property should be protecte? Within the small circle of neighborhood ommunities, so easily swavrd by passion r>r feeling, vindictive motives to the ma*. Icr, may sometimes conduce to the punishment ol the slave, while the influence r>f a popular favorite, on the4*ther hand, f may be success ully excrciscd-to extern At the crimes of the culprit. The result of mv reflection and experience, their fore, induces me to reiterate the-recommends, tion of one of my predecessors, to alter the present mode of trial, to a jury of twelve freeholders, to be assembled at the court house; and the prosecution in ill r:nses (and the defence when practicable) J lo be conducted by counsel.. The eonve- / r?ien< e of the Parishes, remote as some of J} them are from the sent of justice, may eadily be accommodated. by special pro- j risions. If, in making this recommend ition, I have said little more 4han ta Client the suggestions of some of my pre. jecessors, it is perhaps for that very rea- I ion entitled to your more serious consid. I ration, as the result of the matured and I icciimulated experience of this departnent, in all its stages of occupancy and ; ,f )f succession. Thv instances of awaken d regret and contrition, on the pirt of ' nany of these judicial tribunals, invoking ;he interposition of Executive -clemeney, L lo modify or arrest their own . hasty and ' >Pten illegal convictions, are of frequent ilid ordinary occurrence. The present mode of applying the Free School Fund 'ins been productive of no lenefif, to correspond with the flKHt mu> rificcnt of all the benefactions of our Stale Government, to improve the moral mndition of her people. The experiment if many years, not only present* us with he result of a large propoition of ourndigent citizens, who have grown up without the encouragement or the oppor[unity to participitte in its advantage!*, nit at the same time forces upon us the conviction, that these opportunities, rktn ;njoyed, have in many instance* been ac;ompanicd by a standard of morals, asveil as of tuition, as vitiated, and perhaps nore injurious, than the woist consequences of the most profound ignorance, While our grammar schools and literary inminarioa havu arlvnnr^ nnd imnfAVS^ .............. ~ ~ ""I n proportion to the increasing intelligence )f the age, nnd to the higher requirement*>f our colleges, the free character of oar rce schools has depreciated in alj the * >cntial requisites of a sound and judicious ourse of education. Where,are tbeir >eneficial effects to be witnessed, m any >ftheir influences on society? Whereire the monuments of their usefulne? to>e seen, in any new illuminations of aci* mco or improvements in the arts ? Whet ignal example can be adduced, to itlusrate a solitary instance of moral or ii?n elleetual reclamation, for the expenditure >f more than thirty.six thousand dollars mnually? Better would it be to leew he mind entire.lu to nature's influence! ind Heaven's inspiration, that) to perrft: he understanding, and corrupt the hetft, jy a depraved and injudicious course ef education. The result of so many ye*?' ^ experience, is enough to dissatisfy ypur tiopes. in the present mode of appljjbg the liberality of the State ; but toot, I tj|s*K' to discourage your efforts to improw it. When the State assumes toJ become .the guardian of the education of any ptftion. of her citizens, the character of tha'tdu-. cation should be of a hir^d not ti&rinr to the most useful and improved stfidard of tuition. I am inclined to the #mc? tion, that if elevated to: the conditen of' the highest order of English Gsmmar Schools-?one to be established * each* District, County, or Parish?-thefcourso of instruction b^ing chiefly dirccbd to th* |