New Hampshire Statesman And Concord Register

It is said that some of the clergymen of Maine, apprehending that Gov. Lincoln of that State did not go quite far enough in his Fast Proclamation, read from their pulpits the Proclamation of our own, and other New England Governors, to the neglect and supposed disparagement of that of their own Governor.

Without any disparagement to the message of Gov. Pierce, so far as it goes, we may be allowed to give the following extract from the message of Governor Lincoln of Massachusetts, that the people of New-Hampshire may see how that distinguished Statesman can speak of the Administration of the General Government.

"Estimating, as we now do, the merits and the qualifications of those who are charged with the administration of the National Government, and approving the general course of their policy, the propriety of giving them hearty and efficient aid will not be questioned. It is indeed the stern duty of Republicans to examine with severe and zealous scrutiny the conduct of men in power; but there can be nothing of the spirit of Republicanism, in withholding support from an administration, the measures of which are salutary and satisfactory, merely lest those who compose it might, otherwise, become recommended as candidates for future expressions of the well deserved confidence of their fellow citizens.—Sure I am, that the Representatives of the Republican people of this Commonwealth will never yield to the pernicious influences of such a motive. Regardful only of the peace, the honor, and the prosperity of the nation, they will be regardless of men, except in connexion with these objects.

Adopting the best directory to correct human opinion, in knowing the Tree by its Fruits, and applying the elevated and noble sentiment of one, who although himself an unsuccessful competitor for the highest station, was first to propose that this Administration should be judged by the character of their measures, they will see in the public servants, but responsible agents, entitled to a support, in the constitutional tenor of their office, proportionate to the fidelity, ability, and success, with which they acquit themselves in the public service."