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Appendix.

Messages transmitted by the Governor to the Legislature during the session which commenced on Jany 7th & ended Feby 5th 1824.

Messages.

[See page. 23.]

Gentlemen of the Senate And of the House of Representatives

The circumstances under which we assemble call for grateful acknowledgements to our Supreme Benefactor. Enjoying as we do, all the blessings of a free government, where the sovereign power remains with the people and is exercised only by agents of their choice, we can hardly realise the condition of other nations under Governments less free, in which the rights of the people, are either abridged, or altogether disregarded.

To excite love of country, and an attachment to the institutions under which, as a people, we have prospered, and, as individuals, are protected; to allay that spirit of restlessness, whenever it exists, which is sometimes felt under the most favourable circumstances in life, we may profitably compare our situation with that of other communities. And, when making the comparison, may we always bear in