this government, and, consequently, those which ought to shape its administration. I will compress them in the narrowest compass they will bear, stating the general principle, but not all its limitations. Equal and exact justice to all men, of whatever state or persuasion, religious or political; peace, commerce, and honest friendship with all nations, entangling alliances with none; the support of the State governments in all their rights, as the most competent administrations for our domestic concerns, and the surest bulwarks against anti-republican tendencies; the preservation of the General Government in its whole constitutional vigor, as the sheet-anchor of our peace at home and safety abroad; a jealous care of the right of election by the people, a mild and safe corrective of abuses which are lopped by the sword of revolution, where peaceable remedies are unprovided; absolute acquiescence in the decisions of the majority, — the vital principle of republics, from which is no appeal but to force, the vital principle and immediate parent of despotism; a well-disciplined militia,— our best reliance in peace and for the first moments of war, till regulars may relieve them; the supremacy of the civil over the military authority; economy in the public expense, that labor may be lightly burdened; the honest payment of our debts and sacred preservation of the public faith; encouragement of agriculture, and of commerce as its handmaid; the diffusion of information and arraignment of all abuses at the bar of the public reason; freedom of religion, freedom of the press, and freedom of person under the protection of the habeas corpus; and trial by juries impartially selected. These principles form the bright constellation which has gone before us, and guided our steps through an age of revolution and reformation. The wisdom of our sages and blood of our heroes have been devoted to their attainment. They should be the creed of our political faith, the text of civic instruction, the touchstone by which to try the services of those we trust; and should we wander from them in moments of error or alarm, let us hasten to retrace our steps, and to regain the road which alone leads to peace, liberty, and safety. "I repair, then, fellow-citizens, to the post which you have assigned me. With experience enough in subordinate stations to know the difficulties of this, the greatest of all, I have learned to expect that it will rarely fall to the lot of imperfect man to retire from this station with the reputation and the favor which bring him into it. Without pretensions to that high confidence you reposed in our first and greatest revolutionary character, whose preëminent services had entitled him to the first place in his country's love, and had destined for him the fairest page in the volume of faithful history, I ask so much confidence only as may give firmness and effect to the legal administration of your affairs. I shall often go wrong, through defect of judgment. When right, I shall often be thought wrong by those whose positions will not command a view of the whole ground. I ask your indulgence for my own errors, which will never be intentional; and your support against the errors of others, who may condemn what they would not, if seen in all its parts. The approbation implied by your suffrage is a great consolation to me for the past; and my future solicitude will be to retain the good opinion of those who have bestowed it in advance, to conciliate that of others by doing them all the good in my power, and to be instrumental to the happiness and freedom of all. Relying, then, on the patronage of your good will, I advance with obedience to the work, ready to retire from it whenever you become sensible how much better choice it is in your power to make. And may that Infinite Power which rules the destinies of the universe, lead our councils to what is best, and give them a favorable issue for your peace and prosperity. DAVID RAMSAY [DAVID RAMSAY was born in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, April 2, 1749, and died in Charleston, South Carolina, May 8, 1815. He graduated at Princeton, taught for some years, studied medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, and settled at Charleston. Here he not only practised his profession, but served the Revolutionary cause with such zeal that in 1780 he was put into close confinement at St. Augustine by the British. After the Revolution he was a member of the Continental Congress, and of the Senate of South Carolina, over which he pre sided for some years. It was chiefly, however, for his attainments, in medical science and in American history that he was distinguished among his contemporaries, and it is his writings in the latter category that have preserved his name. A popular tract was his "Sermon on Tea" from the text "Touch not, taste not, handle not." In 1785 he published a "History of the Revolution in South Carolina," and four years later a more extended account of the movement in which he had participated and about which he had gathered much information. This was his "History of the American Revolution" in two volumes (1789) from which a selection is here given. In 1807 he published a biography of Washington, and in 1809 a “History of South Carolina from its Settlement in 1670 to the Year 1808," a work in two volumes which has long ranked with the best of the earlier local histories. Among his other writings were a memorial volume devoted to his second wife Martha, a daughter of Henry Laurens (q.v.), — his first wife was a daughter of another Revolutionary leader, John Witherspoon, and a "History of the United States," which was continued by other hands and incorporated in a universal history. Dr. Ramsay, who died from wounds inflicted by a maniac whom he had examined professionally, was a good, clear writer and deserves to rank with Jeremy Belknap, Dr. Benjamin Rush, and other distinguished historians and publicists of the early republic. It may be mentioned that his brother, Colonel Nathaniel Ramsay, was a brave soldier of the Revolution and a successful lawyer in Maryland. It may also be recalled as a curious coincidence that Hugh Williamson (1735-1819), the historian of the neighboring state of North Carolina, was also a native of Pennsylvania, a learned physician, a surgeon in the Revolution, and an important participator in the politics of the times. Unlike Dr. Ramsay, however, he did not make his permanent home in the South, but after 1793 lived in New York City. His " History of North Carolina" appeared in 1812.] SOME RESULTS OF THE REVOLUTION [FROM "THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION” (1789), APPENDIX IV.] THE American revolution, on the one hand, brought forth great vices; but on the other hand, it called forth many virtues, and gave occasion for the display of abilities which, but for that event, would have been lost to the world. When the war began, the Americans were a mass of husbandmen, merchants, mechanics, and fishermen; but the necessities of the country gave a spring to the active powers of the inhabitants, and set them on thinking, speaking, and acting in a line far beyond that to which they had been accustomed. SOME RESULTS OF THE REVOLUTION 49 The difference between nations is not so much owing to nature, as to education and circumstances. While the Americans were guided by the leading-strings of the mother country, thay had no scope nor encouragement for exertion. All the departments of government were established and executed for them, but not by them. In the years 1775 and 1776, the country being suddenly thrown into a situation that needed the abilities of all its sons, these generally took their places, each according to the bent of his inclination. As they severally pursued their objects with ardor, a vast expansion of the human mind speedily followed. This displayed itself in a variety of ways. It was found that the talents for great stations did not differ in kind, but only in degree, from those which were necessary for the proper discharge of the ordinary business of civil society. In the bustle that was occasioned by the war, few instances could be produced of any persons who made a figure, or who rendered essential services, but from among those who had given specimens of similar talents in their respective professions. Those who from indolence or dissipation, had been of little service to the community in time of peace, were found equally unserviceable in war. A few young men were exceptions to this general rule. Some of these, who had indulged in youthful follies, broke off from their vicious courses, and on the pressing call of their country became useful servants of the public; but the great bulk of those, who were the active instruments of carrying on the revolution, were self-made, industrious men. These who by their own exertions, had established, or laid a foundation for establishing personal independence, were most generally trusted, and most successfully employed in establishing that of their country. In these times of action, classical education was found of less service than good natural parts, guided by common-sense and sound judgment. Several names could be mentioned of individuals who, without the knowledge of any other language than their mother tongue, wrote not only accurately, but elegantly, on public business. It seemed as if the war not only required, but created talents. Men whose minds were warmed with the love of liberty, and whose abilities were improved by daily exercise, and sharpened with a laudable ambition to serve their distressed country, spoke, wrote, E and acted, with an energy far surpassing all expectations which could be reasonably founded on their previous acquirements. The Americans knew but little of one another previous to the revolution. Trade and business had brought the inhabitants of their seaports acquainted with each other, but the bulk of the people in the interior country were unacquainted with their fellow-citizens. A continental army, and Congress composed of men from all the States, by freely mixing together, were assimi→ lated into one mass. Individuals of both, mingling with the citizens, disseminated principles of union among them. Local prejudices abated. By frequent collision asperities were worn off, and a foundation was laid for the establishment of a nation, out of discordant materials. Intermarriages between men and women of different States were much more common than before the war, and became an additional cement to the union. Unreasonable jealousies had existed between the inhabitants of the Eastern and of the Southern States; but on becoming better acquainted with each other, these in a great measure subsided. A wiser policy prevailed. Men of liberal minds led the way in discouraging local distinctions, and the great body of the people, as soon as reason got the better of prejudice, found that their best interests would be most effectually promoted by such practices and sentiments as were favorable to union. JAMES MADISON [JAMES MADISON was born in Port Conway, Virginia, March 16, 1751, and died at Montpellier, Orange County, Virginia, June 28, 1836. The son of parents able to give him a good education, he graduated at Princeton in 1772, where he had the poet Freneau for a room-mate, studied law and history at home while teaching his brothers and sisters, took part early in the Revolutionary movement, was a member of the state convention of 1776, where he helped to draft the new constitution for Virginia, and was elected to the legislature, serving only one term because he would not condescend to solicit votes in an improper manner. In 1780 he was sent to the Continental Congress, where his legal and historical learning, in which he had scarcely a rival, and the prudence and balance of temperament which characterized him through life, caused him to take a high stand as a legislator. In 1784 he was again |