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Franklin Pierce Speech - Inaugural Address
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
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