384 [Assembly 



of truth and beauty to enrich that book. If, by reason of constant 

 discussion, or the want of fresh matter, the standard topics should 

 lose any portion of their interest, new life might be infused into the 

 series by adopting works on collateral subjects. In default of native 

 works adapted to this use, foreign works, like the Bridgewater trea- 

 tises, might be admitted. Such an emergency, however, is not to 

 be anticipated. 



V. POLITICAL COLLECTANEA. 



Let a second annual volume be compiled and stereotyped, in size 

 and style uniform with the first, and constituting a political collect- 

 anea. It should contain a digest of the proceedings of the legislative 

 executive and judicial branches of the general government; import- 

 ant state papers; abstracts of congressional reports; treaties; diplo- 

 matic correspondence; statistics; notices of internal improvements; 

 notices of state legislation, with their most valuable documents; sta- 

 tistics of foreign countries; memoranda of their legislation, and cur- 

 rent political history. It should be, in short, a current political his- 

 tory of the world, but especially of our own country; a panoramic 

 view of nations as they exist at the passing moment. It should con- 

 tain the cream of that knowledge which the freeman needs to qualify 

 him to serve his country, whether at the polls or in official station. 

 It shouls be history taken from life, by a sort of literary daguerreo- 

 type: a book of facts, compiled in the spirit of truth and impartial- 

 ity; untainted by party prejudices; beyond the reach of party influ- 

 ences. I would wish it to become, in the process of years, a more 

 valuable book of reference for the statesman than exists in any 

 country: more full and elaborate than Niles' Register, and expurged 

 from its dross; more general in its scope, and less encumbered with 

 useless matter than Hansard's Parliamentary reports; more available 

 for the present and future student of legislative history than Rymer's 

 Foedera. It should have the good qualities of all these, without their 

 defects, and other good qualities which none of them have. 



VI. PRELIMINARY SERIES OF VOLUMES. 



And here I beg leave to suggest that, if such a current document- 

 ary history should be commenced, the design should be perfected, by 

 the compilation of an introductory series of volumes, containing all 

 the most important documents relating to the history of the country, 

 from its first settlement; and especially from the middle of the 

 eighteenth century. They should be uniform in style with the series 

 above proposed, and embrace a great deal of matter for the gratifi- 



