longing to the United States, the principles of self-government upon which our federative system rests will be best promoted, the true spirit and meaning of the Constitution be observed, and the Confederacy strengthened, by leaving all questions concerning the domestic policy therein to the Legislatures chosen by the people thereof."

It is with no ordinary emotions of pride and gratification that I see sentiments thus enunciated upon a subject then so imperfectly understood, after a discussion so elaborate and a consideration so mature, approved in theory and adopted in practice by the entire Democratic party of the Union. I had an early and abiding faith that such would be the result, and had I at any moment been inclined to retreat, like Fernando Cortez I would have committed all means of escape to destruction. The great principle of popular sovereignty upon which the Democratic party is completely and thoroughly united, will "stand the test of talent and of time." The thunder of the opposition may roar, the winds may howl and the storms beat, but it will withstand them all, for it is founded upon the spirit of the written Constitution, and rests in the inherent rights of

man.

Democracy is not a creation of yesterday or to-day, nor its party a temporary combination to attain power. The principles form the party and not the party the principles, for the principles are eternal. It is the natural and uniform foe of inequality, injustice, oppression, or privilege. It engrafts no schemes nor designs-no idle dreams of social reform, no moon-stricken conceits upon its broad and benevolent charter. It admits no Utopian ideas of this earthly, matter-of-fact world; it seeks to uphold society by the self-sustaining power of its own moral influences, and believes that man should govern himself and not his neighbor. It reposes for its security upon popular intelligence and not upon bolts and bars and the defence of physical agencies. It wins by its justice and seeks not to terrify by its power. Its conquests are bloodless, for they are won by the omnipotence of opinion and not by the sword.

The destinies of this great and happy land are committed to the guidance of the Democracy, and that designation is intended to include all true friends of the Constitution, regardless of former differences. They are charged with a duty alike inter

esting and responsible. By a firm and judicious exercise of the trust confided to them, the world, which has so long groaned under the iron exactions of tyranny, may yet pay back to liberty and humanity, with interest, its long accumulated debt. With the principles of Thomas Jefferson for our guiding star, and the spirit of Andrew Jackson at the helm, the ship of state shall weather every storm and be moored in the haven of peace. The ensign of this Republic shall be seen, "its arms and trophies streaming in their original lustre-not a stripe erased or pol luted-not a star obscured, but every where spread all over in characters of living light, blazing on all its ample folds as they float over the sea and over the land in every wind under the whole heavens, that sentiment dear to every American heart'Liberty and Union, now and forever, one and inseparable.""

REMARKS

MADE ON THE OCCASION OF THE PRESENTATION OF A TESTIMONIAL

TO W. B. GILBERT, ESQ., AT SYRACUSE, N. Y., April 29, 1857.

[The employees on the Syracuse and Binghamton Railroad presented to W. B. Gilbert, Esq., on his retiring from the superintendency of the road, a magnificent gold watch and chain, appropriately inscribed, for his own use, accompanied by a fine gold watch, chain and pin, as a present to Mrs. Gilbert, and a handsome cameo set, pin, earrings &c., for his daughter. The presentation took place at the Syracuse House, in the presence of a large number of the friends of Mr. Gilbert. Among the invited guests were Hon. Erastus Corning, President of the N. Y. Central Railroad Co., Geo. Peabody, Esq., the London banker, Mr. Lamson of London, several members of the Board of Directors, and a large party of ladies and gentlemen.

Mr. Schemerhorn, President of the Road, announced the object of the gathering, and introduced Hon. Mr. Dickinson, one of the Directors, who made the presentation in behalf of the donors, with the following remarks, to which Mr. Gilbert appropriately responded. - Syracuse Courier.]

MR. SUPERINTENDENT-Those who have been engaged in constructing and operating the Syracuse and Binghamton Railroad, under your general superintendence, having learned that the official relations which have so long existed between you and them were about to be dissolved, that you might enter upon a new and more extended field of labor and usefulness, have determined to signalize their high appreciation of your personal and official character, and evince their friendship for yourself and family, by offering for your and their acceptance some appropriate testimonial, and have devolved upon me the pleasing duty of a formal presentation,

About five years since, Syracuse and Binghamton were separated by a tedious two days' journey. Under your guidance,

these places-the lakes of Onondaga and the waters of the Susquehanna-aye, Oswego and New York-the Ontario and the Atlantic-were in eighteen months made near neighbors; and that, too, by a work which opened one of the loveliest though most secluded portions of the State. Amidst physical obstructions the most serious, and financial embarrassment so alarming that all kindred undertakings were either abandoned or suspended, this work progressed steadily onward to its completion and physical triumph, and if its financial success was postponed to a later period, those who projected and those who executed may indulge the gratifying reflection that it was induced by causes beyond their control. And there is the structure open for trade and travel, ministering to the social advantages and business interests of society, and there it will remain when the head which designed, the hands which guided, and the muscles which wrought in its construction shall all lie down in a dreamless sleep together.

Nor have your efforts in its superintendence since its completion been less successful. While on either hand hecatombs of victims have been sacrificed to the raging spirit of the times, by negligence or want of skill, of the great number who have passed over this road not a limb has been lost, nor a single human life imperilled.

But it is not the success with which you have surmounted physical obstacles, nor the science by which you have guided the fiery locomotive; it is not the mighty embankments which you erected, the deep gorges you have filled, the hills you have levelled, the morasses you have drained, nor the viaducts you have constructed, which have endeared you to your associates: it is because in all your actions, while you have sought to conquer the physical elements by force, you have wielded moral energies by induction; because in your intercourse with them, though their official superior, you have never forgotten, either in theory or in practice, that memorable and primary truth that a superintendent was no more, and a subordinate no less a man. This has bound their hearts to you as one in the truest bonds of friendship, and secured for you forever their highest respect and esteem.

So mysteriously has a beneficent Providence interwoven the domestic relations, that had your efforts in this undertaking

been characterized by the absence of integrity or skill, your family must have shared with you the opprobrium. In this moment of a husband's and a father's pride, shall not a confiding wife and affectionate daughter participate in his triumphs? Be pleased, then, to accept from those who thus esteem you the watches presented for yourself and Mrs. Gilbert, and the ornaments for your daughter, as material evidences of the sincere regard for yourself and family.

The watches will enable you to contemplate the value of time, and to admonish you that both artificial and moral machinery should be well regulated; that, if not kept in proper beat and permitted to run either too fast or too slow, it is entirely useless, and none will suffer detriment if it is permitted to run down altogether. They will serve to admonish, too, that time is fleeting; and that the finely polished balances will continue to vibrate when the hearts of those who receive and those who present shall have ceased to pulsate forever. The ornaments bestowed upon your daughter are but emblems of purity and loveliness-those priceless jewels which adorn the female character, and which your associates are assured have been your solace amid the long and laborious period of service. You are about to visit a distant region, and it is in vain to believe that we shall ever be re-united by the uncertain current of existence. Were we gifted with a patriarch's inspiration, we would impart to you and yours our blessing. Wherever it may please a beneficent Providence to cast your lot, you will remain, to us and each of us, an object of anxious solicitude and cherished friendship. May the ties which have united us in sympathy and feeling never be broken. In running your course according to life's allotted time-table, may you avoid all collisions which derange and destroy man's moral machinery, and arrive seasonably at the stations, and may you overcome all elevations until you reach the summit of earthly existence, and your descent adown its incline plane be safe and gentle; and when the fires of life's locomotive shall be quenched, its power exhausted, and its wheels revolve no longer, may you be welcomed at that universal depot, prepared for all travellers who have returned home from life's toilsome and perilous journey.