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My Countrymen:
It is a relief to feel that no heart but my own can know the
personal regret and bitter sorrow over which I have been borne
to a position so suitable for others rather than desirable for
myself.
The circumstances under which I have been called for a limited
period to preside over the destinies of the Republic fill me
with a profound sense of responsibility, but with nothing like
shrinking apprehension. I repair to the post assigned me not as
to one sought, but in obedience to the unsolicited expression of
your will, answerable only for a fearless, faithful, and
diligent exercise of my best powers. I ought to be, and am,
truly grateful for the rare manifestation of the nation's
confidence; but this, so far from lightening my obligations,
only adds to their weight. You have summoned me in my weakness;
you must sustain me by your strength. When looking for the
fulfillment of reasonable requirements, you will not be
unmindful of the great changes which have occurred, even within
the last quarter of a century, and the consequent augmentation
and complexity of duties imposed in the administration both of
your home and foreign affairs.
Whether the elements of inherent force in the Republic have kept
pace with its unparalleled progression in territory, population,
and wealth has been the subject of earnest thought and
discussion on both sides of the ocean. Less than sixty-four
years ago the Father of his Country made the then "recent
accession of the important State of North Carolina to the
Constitution of the United States" one of the subjects of his
special congratulation. At that moment, however, when the
agitation consequent upon the Revolutionary struggle had hardly
subsided, when we were just emerging from the weakness and
embarrassments of the Confederation, there was an evident
consciousness of vigor equal to the great mission so wisely and
bravely fulfilled by our fathers. It was not a presumptuous
assurance, but a calm faith, springing from a clear view of the
sources of power in a government constituted like ours. It is no
paradox to say that although comparatively weak the new-born
nation was intrinsically strong. Inconsiderable in population
and apparent resources, it was upheld by a broad and intelligent
comprehension of rights and an all-pervading purpose to maintain
them, stronger than armaments. It came from the furnace of the
Revolution, tempered to the necessities of the times. The
thoughts of the men of that day were as practical as their
sentiments were patriotic. They wasted no portion of their
energies upon idle and delusive speculations, but with a firm
and fearless step advanced beyond the governmental landmarks
which had hitherto circumscribed the limits of human freedom and
planted their standard, where it has stood against dangers which
have threatened from abroad, and internal agitation, which has
at times fearfully menaced at home. They proved themselves equal
to the solution of the great problem, to understand which their
minds had been illuminated by the dawning lights of the
Revolution. The object sought was not a thing dreamed of; it was
a thing realized. They had exhibited only the power to achieve,
but, what all history affirms to be so much more unusual, the
capacity to maintain. The oppressed throughout the world from
that day to the present have turned their eyes hitherward, not
to find those lights extinguished or to fear lest they should
wane, but to be constantly cheered by their steady and
increasing radiance.
In this our country has, in my judgment, thus far fulfilled its
highest duty to suffering humanity. It has spoken and will
continue to speak, not only by its words, but by its acts, the
language of sympathy, encouragement, and hope to those who
earnestly listen to tones which pronounce for the largest
rational liberty. But after all, the most animating
encouragement and potent appeal for freedom will be its own
history--its trials and its triumphs. Pre-eminently, the power
of our advocacy reposes in our example; but no example, be it
remembered, can be powerful for lasting good, whatever apparent
advantages may be gained, which is not based upon eternal
principles of right and justice. Our fathers decided for
themselves, both upon the hour to declare and the hour to
strike. They were their own judges of the circumstances under
which it became them to pledge to each other "their lives, their
fortunes, and their sacred honor" for the acquisition of the
priceless inheritance transmitted to us. The energy with which
that great conflict was opened and, under the guidance of a
manifest and beneficent Providence the uncomplaining endurance
with which it was prosecuted to its consummation were only
surpassed by the wisdom and patriotic spirit of concession which
characterized all the counsels of the early fathers.
One of the most impressive evidences of that wisdom is to be
found in the fact that the actual working of our system has
dispelled a degree of solicitude which at the outset disturbed
bold hearts and far-reaching intellects. The apprehension of
dangers from extended territory, multiplied States, accumulated
wealth, and augmented population has proved to be unfounded. The
stars upon your banner have become nearly threefold their
original number; your densely populated possessions skirt the
shores of the two great oceans; and yet this vast increase of
people and territory has not only shown itself compatible with
the harmonious action of the States and Federal Government in
their respective constitutional spheres, but has afforded an
additional guaranty of the strength and integrity of both.
With an experience thus suggestive and cheering, the policy of
my Administration will not be controlled by any timid
forebodings of evil from expansion. Indeed, it is not to be
disguised that our attitude as a nation and our position on the
globe render the acquisition of certain possessions not within
our jurisdiction eminently important for our protection, if not
in the future essential for the preservation of the rights of
commerce and the peace of the world. Should they be obtained, it
will be through no grasping spirit, but with a view to obvious
national interest and security, and in a manner entirely
consistent with the strictest observance of national faith. We
have nothing in our history or position to invite aggression; we
have everything to beckon us to the cultivation of relations of
peace and amity with all nations. Purposes, therefore, at once
just and pacific will be significantly marked in the conduct of
our foreign affairs. I intend that my Administration shall leave
no blot upon our fair record, and trust I may safely give the
assurance that no act within the legitimate scope of my
constitutional control will be tolerated on the part of any
portion of our citizens which can not challenge a ready
justification before the tribunal of the civilized world. An
Administration would be unworthy of confidence at home or
respect abroad should it cease to be influenced by the
conviction that no apparent advantage can be purchased at a
price so dear as that of national wrong or dishonor. It is not
your privilege as a nation to speak of a distant past. The
striking incidents of your history, replete with instruction and
furnishing abundant grounds for hopeful confidence, are
comprised in a period comparatively brief. But if your past is
limited, your future is boundless. Its obligations throng the
unexplored pathway of advancement, and will be limitless as
duration. Hence a sound and comprehensive policy should embrace
not less the distant future than the urgent present.
The great objects of our pursuit as a people are best to be
attained by peace, and are entirely consistent with the
tranquillity and interests of the rest of mankind. With the
neighboring nations upon our continent we should cultivate
kindly and fraternal relations. We can desire nothing in regard
to them so much as to see them consolidate their strength and
pursue the paths of prosperity and happiness. If in the course
of their growth we should open new channels of trade and create
additional facilities for friendly intercourse, the benefits
realized will be equal and mutual. Of the complicated European
systems of national polity we have heretofore been independent.
From their wars, their tumults, and anxieties we have been,
happily, almost entirely exempt. Whilst these are confined to
the nations which gave them existence, and within their
legitimate jurisdiction, they can not affect us except as they
appeal to our sympathies in the cause of human freedom and
universal advancement. But the vast interests of commerce are
common to all mankind, and the advantages of trade and
international intercourse must always present a noble field for
the moral influence of a great people.
With these views firmly and honestly carried out, we have a
right to expect, and shall under all circumstances require,
prompt reciprocity. The rights which belong to us as a nation
are not alone to be regarded, but those which pertain to every
citizen in his individual capacity, at home and abroad, must be
sacredly maintained. So long as he can discern every star in its
place upon that ensign, without wealth to purchase for him
preferment or title to secure for him place, it will be his
privilege, and must be his acknowledged right, to stand
unabashed even in the presence of princes, with a proud
consciousness that he is himself one of a nation of sovereigns
and that he can not in legitimate pursuit wander so far from
home that the agent whom he shall leave behind in the place
which I now occupy will not see that no rude hand of power or
tyrannical passion is laid upon him with impunity. He must
realize that upon every sea and on every soil where our
enterprise may rightfully seek the protection of our flag
American citizenship is an inviolable panoply for the security
of American rights. And in this connection it can hardly be
necessary to reaffirm a principle which should now be regarded
as fundamental. The rights, security, and repose of this
Confederacy reject the idea of interference or colonization on
this side of the ocean by any foreign power beyond present
jurisdiction as utterly inadmissible.
The opportunities of observation furnished by my brief
experience as a soldier confirmed in my own mind the opinion,
entertained and acted upon by others from the formation of the
Government, that the maintenance of large standing armies in our
country would be not only dangerous, but unnecessary. They also
illustrated the importance--I might well say the absolute
necessity--of the military science and practical skill furnished
in such an eminent degree by the institution which has made your
Army what it is, under the discipline and instruction of
officers not more distinguished for their solid attainments,
gallantry, and devotion to the public service than for
unobtrusive bearing and high moral tone. The Army as organized
must be the nucleus around which in every time of need the
strength of your military power, the sure bulwark of your
defense--a national militia--may be readily formed into a
well-disciplined and efficient organization. And the skill and
self-devotion of the Navy assure you that you may take the
performance of the past as a pledge for the future, and may
confidently expect that the flag which has waved its untarnished
folds over every sea will still float in undiminished honor. But
these, like many other subjects, will be appropriately brought
at afuture time to the attention of the coordinate branches of
the Government, to which I shall always look with profound
respect and with trustful confidence that they will accord to me
the aid and support which I shall so much need and which their
experience and wisdom will readily suggest.
In the administration of domestic affairs you expect a devoted
integrity in the public service and an observance of rigid
economy in all departments, so marked as never justly to be
questioned. If this reasonable expectation be not realized, I
frankly confess that one of your leading hopes is doomed to
disappointment, and that my efforts in a very important
particular must result in a humiliating failure. Offices can be
properly regarded only in the light of aids for the
accomplishment of these objects, and as occupancy can confer no
prerogative nor importunate desire for preferment any claim, the
public interest imperatively demands that they be considered
with sole reference to the duties to be performed. Good citizens
may well claim the protection of good laws and the benign
influence of good government, but a claim for office is what the
people of a republic should never recognize. No reasonable man
of any party will expect the Administration to be so regardless
of its responsibility and of the obvious elements of success as
to retain persons known to be under the influence of political
hostility and partisan prejudice in positions which will require
not only severe labor, but cordial cooperation. Having no
implied engagements to ratify, no rewards to bestow, no
resentments to remember, and no personal wishes to consult in
selections for official station, I shall fulfill this difficult
and delicate trust, admitting no motive as worthy either of my
character or position which does not contemplate an efficient
discharge of duty and the best interests of my country. I
acknowledge my obligations to the masses of my countrymen, and
to them alone. Higher objects than personal aggrandizement gave
direction and energy to their exertions in the late canvass, and
they shall not be disappointed. They require at my hands
diligence, integrity, and capacity wherever there are duties to
be performed. Without these qualities in their public servants,
more stringent laws for the prevention or punishment of fraud,
negligence, and peculation will be vain. With them they will be
unnecessary.
But these are not the only points to which you look for vigilant
watchfulness. The dangers of a concentration of all power in the
general government of a confederacy so vast as ours are too
obvious to be disregarded. You have a right, therefore, to
expect your agents in every department to regard strictly the
limits imposed upon them by the Constitution of the United
States. The great scheme of our constitutional liberty rests
upon a proper distribution of power between the State and
Federal authorities, and experience has shown that the harmony
and happiness of our people must depend upon a just
discrimination between the separate rights and responsibilities
of the States and your common rights and obligations under the
General Government; and here, in my opinion, are the
considerations which should form the true basis of future
concord in regard to the questions which have most seriously
disturbed public tranquillity. If the Federal Government will
confine itself to the exercise of powers clearly granted by the
Constitution , it can hardly happen that its action upon any
question should endanger the institutions of the States or
interfere with their right to manage matters strictly domestic
according to the will of their own people.
In expressing briefly my views upon an important subject rich
has recently agitated the nation to almost a fearful degree, I
am moved by no other impulse than a most earnest desire for the
perpetuation of that Union which has made us what we are,
showering upon us blessings and conferring a power and influence
which our fathers could hardly have anticipated, even with their
most sanguine hopes directed to a far-off future. The sentiments
I now announce were not unknown before the expression of the
voice which called me here. My own position upon this subject
was clear and unequivocal, upon the record of my words and my
acts, and it is only recurred to at this time because silence
might perhaps be misconstrued. With the Union my best and
dearest earthly hopes are entwined. Without it what are we
individually or collectively? What becomes of the noblest field
ever opened for the advancement of our race in religion, in
government, in the arts, and in all that dignifies and adorns
mankind? From that radiant constellation which both illumines
our own way and points out to struggling nations their course,
let but a single star be lost, and, if these be not utter
darkness, the luster of the whole is dimmed. Do my countrymen
need any assurance that such a catastrophe is not to overtake
them while I possess the power to stay it? It is with me an
earnest and vital belief that as the Union has been the source,
under Providence, of our prosperity to this time, so it is the
surest pledge of a continuance of the blessings we have enjoyed,
and which we are sacredly bound to transmit undiminished to our
children. The field of calm and free discussion in our country
is open, and will always be so, but never has been and never can
be traversed for good in a spirit of sectionalism and
uncharitableness. The founders of the Republic dealt with things
as they were presented to them, in a spirit of self-sacrificing
patriotism, and, as time has proved, with a comprehensive wisdom
which it will always be safe for us to consult. Every measure
tending to strengthen the fraternal feelings of all the members
of our Union has had my heartfelt approbation. To every theory
of society or government, whether the offspring of feverish
ambition or of morbid enthusiasm, calculated to dissolve the
bonds of law and affection which unite us, I shall interpose a
ready and stern resistance. I believe that involuntary
servitude, as it exists in different States of this Confederacy,
is recognized by the Constitution . I believe that it stands
like any other admitted right, and that the States where it
exists are entitled to efficient remedies to enforce the
constitutional provisions. I hold that the laws of 1850,
commonly called the "compromise measures," are strictly
constitutional and to be unhesitatingly carried into effect. I
believe that the constituted authorities of this Republic are
bound to regard the rights of the South in this respect as they
would view any other legal and constitutional right, and that
the laws to enforce them should be respected and obeyed, not
with a reluctance encouraged by abstract opinions as to their
propriety in a different state of society, but cheerfully and
according to the decisions of the tribunal to which their
exposition belongs. Such have been, and are, my convictions, and
upon them I shall act. I fervently hope that the question is at
rest, and that no sectional or ambitious or fanatical excitement
may again threaten the durability of our institutions or obscure
the light of our prosperity.
But let not the foundation of our hope rest upon man's wisdom.
It will not be sufficient that sectional prejudices find no
place in the public deliberations. It will not be sufficient
that the rash counsels of human passion are rejected. It must be
felt that there is no national security but in the nation's
humble, acknowledged dependence upon God and His overruling
providence.
We have been carried in safety through a perilous crisis. Wise
counsels, like those which gave us the Constitution , prevailed
to uphold it. Let the period be remembered as an admonition, and
not as an encouragement, in any section of the Union, to make
experiments where experiments are fraught with such fearful
hazard. Let it be impressed upon all hearts that, beautiful as
our fabric is, no earthly power or wisdom could ever reunite its
broken fragments. Standing, as I do, almost within view of the
green slopes of Monticello, and, as it were, within reach of the
tomb of Washington, with all the cherished memories of the past
gathering around me like so many eloquent voices of exhortation
from heaven, I can express no better hope for my country than
that the kind Providence which smiled upon our fathers may
enable their children to preserve the blessings they have
inherited.
Franklin Pierce |
