If in the course of the frequent vicissitudes and changes inseparable from our elective form of government, but salutary and essential to the preservation of its purity, and the faithful administration of its concerns, the wisest and most experienced of our citizens, when called to discharge its highest functions, have not failed to evince those sensations of diffidence and distrust, which the magnitude and difficulty of the trust inspired; what feelings of despondency and fearful anxiety must not be awakened in the breast of him, one of the humblest of your citizens, who is about to enter upon the same arduous duties, under circumstances at once adverse, intricate and embarrassing, who can lay no claim to other than the ordinary endowments of nature, and who can not fail to be peculiarly conscious of his own deficiencies and imperfections.

But, if notwithstanding all the discouraging circumstances by which I feel myself surrounded, an honest zeal for the public goed; if an ardent desire to promote the general welfare and happiness of the people; if an assiduous and untiring devotion to the advancement of their best interests; and if an unwearied industry in the faithful discharge of official duties, can in any measure compensate for the absence of those accomplishments and attainments, so necessary and desirable in the character of a chief magistrate, of a great and growing commonwealth, or will in some degree justify the choice which its citizens have made, I trust I may be permitted to say, without incurring the imputation of vanity or presumption, that such shall not be wanting on my part. That in the discharge of the various and complicated duties which have been assigned to me, I shall often err, admits of no doubt; to be exempt from error is not the lot of frail humanity: voluntary errors will not be committed; for such as are involuntary, and result from the weakness and imperfection of our nature, I shall bespeak the indulgence and forbearance of my fellow citizens, firmly relying on their candor, intelligence and discrimination, to ascribe them to the proper source.

395

The republican maxims, that the people are the source of all political power; that governments are in stituted for their benefit; that those who administer them are their servants, bound to obey their will, so far as that will can be distinctly known or ascertained; accountable to them for all their official acts, and responsible to them for all wilful omissions of duty, have been, and will continue to be cherished by me.

In the distribution of the executive patronage, the most delicate, and certainly the least desirable of all its operations, the public good alone will be consulted; selfish considerations will be repudiated and rejected. Officers have been established by the constitution and laws of the commonwealth, for the accommodation and convenience of the people, and to aid in carrying into effect the operations of the government in all its various ramifications and details. Sinecures never were contemplated either by the framers of the constitution or the Legislature; no individual therefore, can expect to be appointed to an office of trust or profit, until he shall have established a character for moral integrity, industry, sobriety and a capacity to discharge his official duties personally and without a reliance on others.Justice to the public, as well as the moral character of the state itself, demand a rigid adherence to this rule,

veloping themselves, cannot be made available to their possessors, or to add to the general wealth and prosperity of the community,without the aid of such artificial commmunications, as will facilitate their transportation and conveyance from the places where they are produced or deposited, to such points and places where they may be profitably converted and disposed of to the uses for which God and Nature have designed them. But to open such communications must be the work of time, to enable our citizens to reap the golden harvest, anticipated, we must not suffer our impatience to force us into measures which in the end may greatly retard, if not entirely defeat the object we have so much at heart -by attempting too much we shall only embarrass our operations, and protract the accomplishment of our designs; the credit of the state and the public confidence in its ability to meet its engagements must keep pace with the spirit of improvement to ensure it success; should these fail, the system itself must sink-against such a state of things it is our duty to guard. As a real friend to a system of internal improvement such as I have described; as one to whom the character as well as the prosperity of the state, and the comforts and conveniencies of all its citizens cannot fail to be subjects of the deepest solicitude and concern, I would take occa sion respectfully to suggest, whether we would not be more likely to ensure success to the system itself, by confining, for the present, all our energies as well as all the means of the state to the works already commenced, and to the gradual extension of such as require to be extended to answer their original design or to render them useful and profitable to the public; thereby ensuring their speedy completion and securing to the treasury an additional source of revenue which will relieve it from embarrassment, inspire confidence in its resources, and give a new impetus to the public mind and feelings in favor of commencing and conducting to successful completion, hereafter, other important objects of enterprize and public utility.

To aid, encourage, and protect agriculture, commerce, and manufactures, the three important branches of our national industry, as well as the great sources of wealth and prosperity to our citizens, and, I may add, of real independence to our common country, are powers to be exercised exclusively by Congress, and with that care and caution which shall secure to the one, equal advantages with the other. It cannot be denied, however, that the latter branch of our industry, and which is of vital importance to the people of Penn sylvania, is still in a great measure in its infancy, and requires the artificial stimulus of legislation, to bring it to that state of perfection in which it may take its rank in point of prosperity with, and contribute to the successful advancement of the other two. It is believed that the late act of Congress, "in alteration of the several acts, imposing duties on imports" has gone far to produce the result desired; the efficacy of the provisions of the act just mentioned to give vigor and permanency to our manufacturing establishments, will soon be fully tested; and should the experiment made, be found inadequate to attain the end desired, we may safely confide in that august body, within whose province the subject rests, that the proper remedy will be applied. The talents and enlightened patriotism, too, of the delegation representing this state in the national legislature, give ample assurance, that the honor of the state, and the true interests of its citizens, have been deposited in safe hands, and that they will neither be compromised nor neglected. That the protecting system will continue to be cherished by the mass of our citizens, who cannot fail to perceive that on the permanency of that course of policy, their best interests will materially depend, can scarcely admit of a doubt; and so long as the people continue to cherish the system, there will be little cause to fear, that their representatives will run counter to it. Although the legislatures of the different states can exercise no imme

diate control over this important and deeply interesting subject; yet the expression of its opinions and views by the legislature of a state to the Congress of the United States, in relation to the great measures of national policy depending before that body, will not fail to command a respectful attention, and be received with that deference which is due from the national government to the interests and wants of one of its constituent members. There are, however, other branches of produc tive industry, which properly fall within the scope of the municipal regulations of the state governments, and over which a salutary influence may be shed by legis lative enactments, tending to protect those engaged in them against imposition and loss, and to ensure to their labour its legitimate return; such are some of the mechanic arts and other branches of business pursued by the working classes, immediately connected with them. Every legislative enactment, having for its object, to foster and encourage this useful and valuable portion of our citizens, is an incentive to a laudable emulation to excel in every species of industry embraced within its provisions; and it is a duty of the first obligation imposed upon those entrusted with the administration of Government, to infuse into the ranks of industry, a spirit of filial confidence, that their interests will not be treated with indifference and neglect by those who are bound to protect them, and to furnish the assurance, that they, too, are objects of the care and solicitude of those who emphatically are the guardians of the people's rights.

It will not be expected, that, on an occasion such as the present, any thing should be said in reference to the state of the commonwealth, or the measures to be submitted to the deliberations of the legislature during the present session; the message of my respected predecessor has presented both in detail. But I would call the attention of that portion of my fellow citizens, who compose the legislative branch of the government, to one or two topics, the first of which, it seems to me, no executive magistrate can abstain from pressing on the attention of the legislature, without being justly chargeable with a culpable neglect of duty; I mean that clause of the constitution which enjoins that "the legislature shall as soon as conveniently may be, provide by law for the establishment of schools throughout the state, in such manner that the poor may be taught gratis,” an injunction which I trust no statesman will disregard, or philanthropist treat with neglect. This call has been so frequently made by the eminent statesmen who have preceded me in the executive department of this government, that I fear a repetition of it now, will be considered as forming a subject too stale and hackneyed to be productive of any beneficial effects; but as some of those calls have heretofore produced favorable results, may I not be permitted to indulge the hope, that the enlightened body, I am now addressing, will turn their attention to the injunction itself as being one, which considering the high source from which it emanates, is entitled to their unqualified deference and respeet. The philanthropic design, and patriotic intention of the framers of the constitution cannot, certainly, be passed over, with indifference, by any legislative body which views the subject of education, in all its important bearings, as well with regard to the evils resulting to society from a want of that moral and scholastic instruction to which a large portion of our citizens, who are now destitute of the means of obtaining them, is doomed; as in reference to the stability and permanency of our free institutions themselves; which must always materially depend on the virtue and intelligence of the people. It is an incontrovertible truth, that civil liberty never can flourish in the same soil with ignorance; to be duly appreciated and rationally enjoyed, the ample privileges it confers, and the rich blessings it imparts, must be felt and understood; without the lights of education, the only true source of correct information, this never can be accomplished. That legislature therefore,

Of said balance, for payment of interest, 62,161 19 For repayment of temporary loans, 917 80

63,078 99

FROM MANUSCRIPTS

IN POSSESSION OF THE AMER. PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY.

SWEDISHI DOCUMENTS.

UPSAL, DEC. 12, 1653. We Christiana, &c. make known, that by grace and favour, and likewise in consideration of the faithful and zealous services that the Commissary of the general col lege of comerce, our very dear and very faithful John Rysing, has heretofore and is still disposed to render so long as he shall live, we give and grant, to and by this letter patent do give and grant, to himself, his wife and to their legitimate male heirs and their descendants, as much land in the West Indies, and New Sweden, as he shall be able to cultivate with 20 to 30 peasants; Ceding to him the aforesaid country, with all its dependences,in woods, fields, fisheries, rivers and mill seats, and all other properties upon the land or water, of whatever name, to enjoy, employ and keep the same, in the same manner and with the same franchises as our nobles, and as a perpetual property.-Conformably to the conditions established by the resolution of Noorhoping of the year 1604, and other regulations, accordingly let all regulate themselves, whose duty it is, giving, to the said John Rysing, or to his legitimate male heirs, in this respect no species of obstacle, prejudice or damage, we order our governor in that country to follow exactly these directions, granting to the said John Rysing so much land as he shall be able to occupy with 20 to 30 peasants, according to the terms of this our donation. Done as above.

Letter patent by which John Rysing is nominated Commissary and assistant Counsellor of New Sweden. Upsal Dec. 12, 1653. We Christiana &c. make known, that having directed our very faithful subject, John Rising, formerly Secretary of the general College of Commerce to make a voyage to New Sweden, in order there to aid for a certain period our present Governor of the said country, agreeably to the orders and instructions which he has received from the said college, and being willing that in consequence of the hazards & fatigue he will experience during so long a voyage, his pay &support be there rendered certain, we command that the said Sieur John Rysing,