The Rhode-Island Republican. [volume] (Newport, R.I.) 1809-1841, 1837-03-15
FAPEwELL ADDRESS OF
ANDREW JACKSON
To The People Of The United States.

FELLOW CITIZENS:
Being about TO retire finally from public
life beg leave to offer you my grateful
thanks for tho many proofs of kindness andf
confidence which huvc received at your
hands. Ii las been my fortune, IN the dis
charge of public duties, civil and military,
frequently to have found myself in difficult
and trying situations, where prompt decis.y
ion and energetic action were necessary,
and where the interest of the country re-
quircd that high responsibilities should be
fearlessly encountered: and it is with tho
deepest emotions of gratitude that ac-
knowledge the continued and unbroken
confidence with which you have sustained
me in every trial. My public life kus been
n long one, and cannot hope that it has,
at oil times, been free from errors. But
have the consolation of knowing that, if mis-
takes have been committed, they have nor
seriously injured The country ! SO an
xiously cndeavored to serve and, at the
moment when surrender my last public
trust, leave this great people prosperous
and happy; in the full enjoymen, Of liberty
and peace and honored and respected by
every nation of the world.
If my humble effor.s have, in any degree
contributed to preserve to you these bles-
sings, l have been more then rewarded by
the honors you have heaped upon me; and
above all, by the generous confidence with
which you have supported me in every per'
II, aud with which you have continued to
animate and cheer my path to the closing
hour of my political life. The time has
now come, when advanced age and bro
ken frame warn me to retire from public
concerns but the recollection of The many
fayors you have bestowed upon me IL en-
craven upon my heart. and have felt that
could not part from your service without
making this public acknowledgment of the
gratitude owo you. And il use the oc-
casion to offer to you the counsels Of age
and experience, you will, j trust, receive
them with the same indulgcnt kindness
which you have So often extended to me !;
and will, at least, see iii them an earnest
desire to perpetunlc, in this favored land,
the blessings Of liberty aud equal laws.
| We have now lived almost fifty years un-
der the constitution framed by the sages
and patriots of the Revolution. The con-
fcts in which the nations of Europe were
engaged during great part of this period
tho spirit in which they waged war against
each other; and our intimate commercial
connexions with every par: Of the civilized
world, rendered it n time OF much difncuity
! for the Government of the United States!
We have had our seasons of peace and war
with all Tie evils which precede or follow
state Of hostility with powerful nations.
| al vii M
stitution yet in its infancy, and under the
Disadvantages which new and unfried
Government must always feel when u y
called upon to put forth its whole strength,
without the lights Of experience to guide It,
or the weight of prccedents to justify It's
measures. But we have passed trium-
phan,ly through all these difficulties. Our
constitution is no longer a doubtful expert
ment and, at the end of nearly half CEN
tury, we find that it has preserved unim-
paired the liberties Of the people, secured
the rights Of property, and that our country
has improved and is founshing beyond any
former example in the history OF nations
I'm our domestic concerns there is every
thing to encourage US /; and if you are trre
to yourselves, nothing can impede your
mnrch to the highest point of national pros-'
peri.y. The States which had SO long been
retarded in their improvement by the Indian
tribes residing in the midst of them, are a,
length relieved from the evil and this un-
happy race-the original dwellers in our
land-ars now placed in situation where
we may well hope that they will share IN
+ the blessings of civilization, and be saved
from that degradation and destruction to
which they were rapidly Fastening whil'
they remained in the States and while ih'
n safety and comfort Of our own citizens hav
s been greatly promoted by their removal, tn
y pbilan,hropist will reioice that the rsmnsu