Utterly, indeed,
should I despair, did not the presence of many whom I here see, remind
me that in the other high authorities provided by our Constitution, I
shall find resources of wisdom, of virtue, and of zeal on which to rely
under all difficulties. To you then, gentlemen, who are charged with the
sovereign functions of legislation, and to those associated with you, I
look with encouragement for that guidance and support, which may enable
us to steer with safety the vessel in which we are all embarked amidst
the conflicting elements of a troubled world.
During the contest of opinions through which we have passed, the
animation of discussions and exertions has sometimes worn an aspect
which might impose on strangers unused to think freely, and to speak and
to write as they think. But this being now decided by the voice of the
nation, enounced according to the rules of the constitution, all will,
of course, arrange themselves under the will of the law, and unite in
common efforts for the common good. All, too, will bear in mind this
sacred principle that, though the will of the majority is in all cases
to prevail, that will, to be rightful, must be reasonable; that the
minority possess their equal rights, which equal laws must protect, and
to violate which would be oppression.
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