seem to be left for me, were not my confidence checked, by being told,
that, according to many of your most distinguished Statesmen, it is a
ruling principle of your public policy never to interfere in European
affairs.

I highly respect the source of this conviction, gentlemen. This source
is your religious attachment to the doctrines of those who bequeathed to
you the immortal constitution which, aided by the unparalleled benefits
of nature, has raised you, in seventy-five years, from an infant people
to a mighty nation. The wisdom of the founders of your great republic
you see in its happy results. What would be the consequences of
departing from that wisdom, you are not sure. You therefore
instinctively fear to touch, even with improving hands, the dear legacy
of those great men. And as to your glorious constitution, all humanity
can only wish that you and your posterity may long preserve this
religious attachment to its fundamental principles, which by no means
exclude development and progress: and that every citizen of your great
union, thankfully acknowledging its immense benefits, may never forget
to love it more than momentary passion or selfish and immediate
interest. May every citizen of your glorious country for ever remember
that a partial discomfort of a corner in a large, sure, and comfortable
house, may be well amended without breaking the foundation; and that
amongst all possible means of getting rid of that partial discomfort,
the worst would be to burn down the house with his own hands.

But while I acknowledge the wisdom of your attachment to fundamental
doctrines, I beg leave with equal frankness to state, that, in my
opinion, there can be scarcely anything more dangerous to the
progressive development of a nation, than to mistake for a basis that
which is none; to mistake for a principle that which is but a transitory