No. 149.] 303 



opened to ours. Diversities I know there are; great States 

 called by different names there are ; but they are not hostile 

 States. No fortress frowns upon the streams which mark their 

 boundaries ; it is but an extension of the same family ; they 

 have spread from the Atlantic shores to the Mississippi — to the 

 Rocky Mountains — to the Pacific Coast — Init they have borne 

 with them everywhere the same religious and political institu- 

 tions. 



As Americans, therefore, I know that in this we shall sympa- 

 thize with each other — we have a common country ; common in 

 its origin, common in its history, and common in its destiny. 

 There is another consideration to which I will advert. It is this : 

 We are all alike interested in the success of American Industry : 

 we feel we are pledged to this great cause. The industry which 

 belongs to the North, interests us of the South ; and, gentlemen, 

 I say to you, standing here as a representative in the Congress of 

 the United States, in my judgment the common government ought 

 to grant a wise, moderate, and steady protection to American 

 Industry. 



I believe that Agriculture — the first great employment of man, 

 the noblest employment of man ; agriculture, which takes one 

 from his fireside into the fields, where with the plough he turns 

 the soil to the face of heaven and casts the seed in with his hands 

 — agriculture should enjoy the support of the government; 

 whose protection should also be equally extended to the Mechanic 

 Arts. Let the artisans who labor at the forge or in the work- 

 shop feel that his government cares for and protects him, and he 

 will feel an interest in the prosperity of his government. 



I regard tliis exhibition as one of the noblest displays of Ameri- 

 can character. It is like America ! 

 \ 



Some years since, when in Europe, I witnessed an Exhibition 

 of Industry in Paris ; it was composed chiefly of articles of beauty 

 and grace. Every where the eye rested on some article, marked 

 by exquisite skill. Everything attested the perfection to which 

 art had been carriad in some of its branches. 



