JSo.
HALIFAX, JST. C. FRIDAY, MARCH 18, 1825.
VOL. I.
53.
THE "FREE PRESS,"
By George Howard,
Is published every Friday, at
THREE DOLLARS per year,
consisting of 52 numbers, and in the
same proportion for a shorter pe
riod. Subscribers at liberty to dis
continue at any time, on paying ar
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each continuance.
Letters addressed to the Editor
must be post Jiaid.
DOMESTIC.
Washington, March 5,
THE INAUGURATION.
At an early hour yesterday
morning the avenues to the Ca
pitol presented an animated.
scene. Groups of Citizens hast
ening to the great theatre of ex
pectation, were to be seen in all
directions; carnages were roll
ing to and fro, and ever and an
on the sound of the drum and
trumpet at a distance gave not
ice that the military were in
motion and repairing to their
different parade grounds.
Towards 12 o'clock, the mili
tary, consisting of General and
Staff Officers and the Volunteer
Companies of the 1st and 2d
Legion, received the President
at his residence, with his pre
decessor, and several ofiicers of
the Government. The cavalry
Jed the way, and the procession
moved in very handsome array,
with the music of the several
corps, to the Capitol, attended
by thousands of citizens. The
President was attended on
horseback by the Marshal, with
his assistants for the day, distin
guished by blue badges, &c.
At 20 minutes past 12, the
Marshals made their appearance
in blue scarfs, succeeded by the
officers of both Houses of Con
stress, who introduced the Pees
idext Elect. He was follow-
ed by the vener;
enerable Ex-PiiEsi-ianee
dent and family, by the Judg
es of the Supreme Court, in
their robes of office, and the
Members of the Senate precer
ded by the Vice President,
with a number of Members of
the House of Representatives.
Mr. Adams, in a plain suit of
black, ascended the steps to the
Speaker's chair, and lock his
seat. The Chief Justice was
placed in front of the Clerk's
table, on the floor of the Hall,
on the opposite side of which
sat the remaining Judges, with
their faces towards the Chair.
Silence having been proclaimed,
and the doors of the Hali closed
Mr. Adams rose and read, with
a clear and deliberate articulati
on, the address which will be
found in another part of this pa
per. The time occupied by the
delivery of this address, was a
bout 40 minutes. As soon as
the last sentence was pronounc
ed, a general plaudit commenc
ing in the galleries, but extend
ing, in a degree, throughout the
whole assembly, continued for
some minutes. The President
Elect then descended from the
Chair, and placing himself on
the right hand of the Judges'
table, received from the Chief
Justice, a volume of the Laws
of the United States, from which
he read, in a loud and clear voice,
the oath of office; at the close of
which, the plaudits were repea
ted mingled with cheers from
the snectators who filled the
galleries, and immediately fol
lowed by the discharge of a sa
lute of artillery.
The congratulations which
then poured in from every side,
occupied the hands, and could
not but reach the heart of the
President. The meeting be
tween him and his venerated
predecessor had in it something
peculiarly affecting. General
Jackson, we were pleased to ob
serve, was among the earliest of
those who took the hand of
their President; and their looks
and deportment towards each!
other were a rebuke to that
littleness of party spirit, which
can see no merit in a rival, and'
leel no joy in the honor of a
competitor. Shortly after
one o'clock, the procession
commenced leaving the Hall;
but it was nearly an hour before
the clustering groups which had
crowded every scat and avenue
completely retired.
The President was then es
corted back as he came, and, on
his arrival at his residence, re
ceived the compliments and re
spects of a great number of gen
tlemen and ladies who called
upon him, who generally paid
their respects at the Mansion
occupied by the Ex-President.
At 12 o'clock, the folio wins:
Inaugural Address was deliver-!
ed in the Hall of the House of
Representatives, by John Q. j
Adams, on his taking (he oath
as president of the United States
of America:
In compliance with an usage.
coeval with the existence of our I
(Federal constitution, and sanc-
tioned by the example of my
predecessors i'n the career upon
which I am about to enter, Ij
appear, my fellow-citizens', inj
your presence, and in that of!
Heaven, to bind myself by the
solemnities of a religious obli-
Igatiou, to the faithful perform-5
of the duties allotted to me,j
in the station to which I have
been called.
In unfolding to my countrv-
med the principles by which I t
shall be governed, in the fulfil-j
ment of those duties, my first1
resort will be to that eonstitu-i
tion, which I shall swear, to the;
best of my ability, to preserve,;
protect and defend. That re-'
vered instrument enumerates i
the powers, and prescribes the
duties of the Executive Magis
trate; and, in its first 'words,
declares the purpose to which j
these, and the whole action of j
the Government, instituted by I
it," should be invariably and
sacredly devoted to form aj
more perfect union, establish
justice, ensure domestic tran
quility, provide for the common
defence, promote the general
welfare, and secure the bless
ings of liberty to the people of
this Union, in their successive
generations. Since the adop
tion of this social compact, one
of these generations has passed
away. It is the work of our
forefathers. Administered by
some of the most eminent men,
who contributed to its forma
tion, through a most eventful
period in the annals of the
world, and through all the vi
cissitudes of peace and war, in
cidental to the condition of as
sociated man, it has not disap
pointed the hopes and aspira
tions of those illustrious bene
factors of their age and nation.
It has promoted the lasting wel
fare of that country, so dear to
us all; it has, to an extent, far
beyond the ordinary lot of hu
manity, secured the freedom
and happiness of this People.
We now receive it as a precious
inheritance from those to whom
we are indebted for its estab
lishment, doubly bound by the
examples which they have en
joyed, as the fruits of their la
bors, to transmit the same, un
impaired, to the succeeding
generation.
In the compass of thirty-six
years, since this great national
covenant was instituted, a body
of laws enacted under its au
thority, and in conformity with
its provisions, has unfolded its
powers, and carried into prac
tical operation its effective en
ergies. Subordinate depart
ments have distributed the Exe
cutive functions in their various
relations, to Foreign Affairs, to
the Revenue and Expenditures,
and to the military force of the
Union by land and sea. A co
ordinate department of the Ju
diciary has expounded the Con
stitution and the Laws; settling,
in harmonious coincidence with
the Legislative will, numerous
weighty questions of construc
tion, which the imperfec
tion of human language had
rendered unavoidable. The
year of Jubilee since the first
formation of our Union has just
elapsed; that of the Declaration
of our Independence is at hand.
The consuunmation of both was
effected by this Constitution.
Since that period, a population
of four millions has multiplied
to twelve. A territory bounded
by the Mississippi, has been
extended from sea to sea. New
states have b.en admitted to the
Union, jn numbers nearly e
qual to those of the first confed
eration. Treaties of Peace,
Amity and Commerce, have
been concluded with the prin
cipal dominons of the earth.
The people of other nations, iu
hab'ttnts of regions acquired,
not by conquest, but by com
pact, have been united with us
in the participation of our
rights and duties, of our bur
dens and blessings. The forest
has fallen by the axe of woods
men the soil has been made
to teem by the tillage of our
farmers; our commerce has
whitened every ocean. The
dominion of man over physical
nature, has been extended by
the invention of our artists.
Liberty and Law have marched
hand in hand. All the purpos
es of human association have
been accomplished as effectively
as under any other government
on the globe; and at a cost little
exceeding, in a whole genera
tion, the expenditures of other
nations in a single year.
Such is the unexaggerated
picture of our condition, under
a constitution founded upon the
Republican principle of equal
rights. To admit that picture
has its shades, is but to say that
it is still the condition of men
upon earth. From evil, physi
cal, moral and political, it is not
our claim to be exempt. We
suffered, sometimes by the visi
tation of Heaven, through dis
ease; often by the wrongs and
injustice of other nations, even
to the extremities of war; and
lastly, by distentions among
QUrsejves-T-dissentipns perhaps
inseparable from the enjoyment
of freedom,but which have more
than once appeared to threaten
the dissolution of the union
and, with it, the overthrow of
all the enjoyments of our pre
sent lot, & all our earthly hopes
of the future. The causes of
these dissentions have been va
rious, founded upon differences
of speculation-in the theory of
Republican government; upon
conflicting views of policy, in
our relations with foreign na
tions; upon jealousies of partial
and sectional interests, aggra
vated by prejudices and prepos
sessions, which strangers to each
other, are ever apt to entertain.
It is a source of gratification
and of encouragement to me, to
observe, that the great result of
this experiment, upon the the
ory ot human rights, has, at the
close of that generation, by
which it was formed, been
crowned with success, equal to
the most sanguine expectations
of its founders. Union, Justice,
tranquility, the common defence
the general wellfare, and the
blessings of liberty all have
been promoted by the govern
ment under which we have liv
ed. Standing at this point of
time; looking back to that gene
ration which has gone by, and
forward to that which is advan
cing, we may, at once, indulge
in grateful exultation, and in
cheering hope. From the ex
perience of the past, we derive
instructive lessons for the future.
Of the two great political parties
which have divided the opinions
and feelings of our country, the
candid and the just will now
admit that both have contributed
splendid talents, spotless integri
ty, ardent patriotism, & disinter
ested sacrifices, to the formation
and adminstration of this gov
ernment; and that both have
required a liberal indulgence
for a portion of human infirmi
ty and error. The Revolution
ary Wars of Europe, commenc
ing precisely at the moment
when the government pf the
United States first went into
operation, under this Constitu
tion, excited a collision of sen
timents and sympathies, which
kindled all the passions, and em
bittered the conflict of parties,
till the Nation was involved in
War, and the Union was shak
en to its centre. This time of
trjal embraced a period of five
and twenty years, during which
the policy of the Union, in its
relations with Europe, constitu
ted the principal basis of our
political divisions, and the most
arduous part of the action of our
Federal Government.
With the catastrophe, in
which the wars of the French
Revolution terminated; and our
own subsequent peace with
Great Britain, this baneful weed
of party strife was unrooted.
From that time no difference of
principle, connected either with
the theory of Government, or
with pur intercourse with For
eign Nations, has existed, or
been called forth, in force suffi
cient to sustain a continued com
bination of parties, or to give
more than wholesome animation
to public sentiment, or legislat
ive debate. Our political creed
is, without a dissenting voice,
that can be heard, that the will
of the people is the source and
the happiness of the people, the
end of all legitimate government
upon earth That the best secu?
rity for the beneficence', ana the
best guaranty against the abuse
of power, consists in the freed
om, the purity and the frequen
cy of popular elections That
the general government of the
Union and the separate govern
ments of the States, are all sov
ereignties of limited powers,
fellow servants of the same mas
ters, uncontrolled within their
respective spheres, uncontrola
ble by encroachments upon each
other- That the firmest securi
ty for peace, is the preparation,
during peace, of the defences of
war -That a rigorous economy
and accountability of public ex
penditures, should guard against
the aggravation, and alleviate,
when possible, the burden of
taxation That the militarv
should be kept in strict subord
ination to the civil power 1 hat
the freedom of the press and of
religios opinion should be invi
olate lhattlie policy ol our
country is peace, and the ark of
our salvation, union, are articles
of faith, upon which we are all
agreed. If there have been
those who doubted whether a
confederate Representative De-r
mocracy, were a government,
competent to the wise and ord?
erly managemeut ot the com
mon coucerns of a mighty na
tion, those doubts have been
dispelled. If there have been
project of partial confederacies,
to be erected upon the ruins of
the Union, they have been scat
tered to the winds. If there
have been dangerous attachment
to one foreign nation, and anti
pathies against another, thev
have been extinguished,
I en years of peace, at home
and abroad, have assuaged the
animosities of political conten
tion, and blended into harmony
the most aiscoruant elements.
of public opinoin. There still
remains one effort of magnanim
ity, one sacrifice of prejudice
and passion, to be made by the
individuals throughout the Na
tion, who have heretofore fol
lowed the standards of political
party. It is that of discarding
every remnant of rancour a-
gainst each other; of embracing,
as countrymen and friends, and
ot yielding to talents and virtue
alone, that confidence which, in
times of contention for princi
ple, was bestowed only upon
those who bore thp badge of
party communion.
The collisions, of party spirit,
which originate in speculative
opinions, or in different views
of administrative policy, are, in
their nature, transitory. Those
which are founded on Geogra
phical divisions, adverse inter
ests of soil, climate and modes
of domestic life, are more per
manent, ami therefore, perhaps,
more dangrous. It is this which
gives inestimable value to the
character of our Goverment, at
once Federal and National. It
holds out to us a perpetual ad
monition to preserve, alike, and
with equal anxiety, the rights
of each individual state in its.
own Government, and the rights
of the whole Nation, in that of
the Union. Whatsoever of do
mestic concernment, unconnec
ted with the other members of
the Union, or with foreign
lands, belongs exclusively
the administration of the State
Governments. Whatsoever di
(continued on the last pare.)