Fellow-Citizens:
The
will of the American people, expressed through their
unsolicited suffrages, calls me before you to pass through
the solemnities preparatory to taking upon myself the duties
of President of the United States for another term. For
their approbation of my public conduct through a period
which has not been without its difficulties, and for this
renewed expression of their confidence in my good
intentions, I am at a loss for terms adequate to the
expression of my gratitude. It shall be displayed to the
extent of my humble abilities in continued efforts so to
administer the Government as to preserve their liberty and
promote their happiness.
So
many events have occurred within the last four years which
have necessarily called forth sometimes under
circumstances the most delicate and painful my views of
the principles and policy which ought to be pursued by the
General Government that I need on this occasion but allude
to a few leading considerations connected with some of them.
The
foreign policy adopted by our Government soon after the
formation of our present Constitution, and very generally
pursued by successive Administrations, has been crowned with
almost complete success, and has elevated our character
among the nations of the earth. To do justice to all and to
submit to wrong from none has been during my Administration
its governing maxim, and so happy have been its results that
we are not only at peace with all the world, but have few
causes of controversy, and those of minor importance,
remaining unadjusted.
In
the domestic policy of this Government there are two objects
which especially deserve the attention of the people and
their representatives, and which have been and will continue
to be the subjects of my increasing solicitude. They are the
preservation of the rights of the several States and the
integrity of the Union.
These
great objects are necessarily connected, and can only be
attained by an enlightened exercise of the powers of each
within its appropriate sphere in conformity with the public
will constitutionally expressed. To this end it becomes the
duty of all to yield a ready and patriotic submission to the
laws constitutionally enacted, and thereby promote and
strengthen a proper confidence in those institutions of the
several States and of the United States which the people
themselves have ordained for their own government.
My
experience in public concerns and the observation of a life
somewhat advanced confirm the opinions long since imbibed by
me, that the destruction of our State governments or the
annihilation of their control over the local concerns of the
people would lead directly to revolution and anarchy, and
finally to despotism and military domination. In proportion,
therefore, as the General Government encroaches upon the
rights of the States, in the same proportion does it impair
its own power and detract from its ability to fulfill the
purposes of its creation. Solemnly impressed with these
considerations, my countrymen will ever find me ready to
exercise my constitutional powers in arresting measures
which may directly or indirectly encroach upon the rights of
the States or tend to consolidate all political power in the
General Government. But of equal, and, indeed, of
incalculable, importance is the union of these States, and
the sacred duty of all to contribute to its preservation by
a liberal support of the General Government in the exercise
of its just powers. You have been wisely admonished to
"accustom yourselves to think and speak of the Union as
of the palladium of your political safety and prosperity,
watching for its preservation with jealous anxiety,
discountenancing whatever may suggest even a suspicion that
it can in any event be abandoned, and indignantly frowning
upon the first dawning of any attempt to alienate any
portion of our country from the rest or to enfeeble the
sacred ties which now link together the various parts."
Without union our independence and liberty would never have
been achieved; without union they never can be maintained.
Divided into twenty-four, or even a smaller number, of
separate communities, we shall see our internal trade
burdened with numberless restraints and exactions;
communication between distant points and sections obstructed
or cut off; our sons made soldiers to deluge with blood the
fields they now till in peace; the mass of our people borne
down and impoverished by taxes to support armies and navies,
and military leaders at the head of their victorious legions
becoming our lawgivers and judges. The loss of liberty, of
all good government, of peace, plenty, and happiness, must
inevitably follow a dissolution of the Union. In supporting
it, therefore, we support all that is dear to the freeman
and the philanthropist.
The
time at which I stand before you is full of interest. The
eyes of all nations are fixed on our Republic. The event of
the existing crisis will be decisive in the opinion of
mankind of the practicability of our federal system of
government. Great is the stake placed in our hands; great is
the responsibility which must rest upon the people of the
United States. Let us realize the importance of the attitude
in which we stand before the world. Let us exercise
forbearance and firmness. Let us extricate our country from
the dangers which surround it and learn wisdom from the
lessons they inculcate.
Deeply
impressed with the truth of these observations, and under
the obligation of that solemn oath which I am about to take,
I shall continue to exert all my faculties to maintain the
just powers of the Constitution and to transmit unimpaired
to posterity the blessings of our Federal Union. At the same
time, it will be my aim to inculcate by my official acts the
necessity of exercising by the General Government those
powers only that are clearly delegated; to encourage
simplicity and economy in the expenditures of the
Government; to raise no more money from the people than may
be requisite for these objects, and in a manner that will
best promote the interests of all classes of the community
and of all portions of the Union. Constantly bearing in mind
that in entering into society "individuals must give up
a share of liberty to preserve the rest," it will be my
desire so to discharge my duties as to foster with our
brethren in all parts of the country a spirit of liberal
concession and compromise, and, by reconciling our
fellow-citizens to those partial sacrifices which they must
unavoidably make for the preservation of a greater good, to
recommend our invaluable Government and Union to the
confidence and affections of the American people.
Finally,
it is my most fervent prayer to that Almighty Being before
whom I now stand, and who has kept us in His hands from the
infancy of our Republic to the present day, that He will so
overrule all my intentions and actions and inspire the
hearts of my fellow-citizens that we may be preserved from
dangers of all kinds and continue forever a united and happy
people.
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