Bloomington herald. [volume] (Bloomington, I. T. [Iowa]) 1840-1849, 1841-03-26
INAUGURAL ADDRESS
OF
PRESIDENT HARRISON.
Fellow CITIZENS

l
the Chief Executive Office of this great and free
Nation, appear before you. fellow citizens, to take
the oaths which the Constitution prescribes, as a
necessary qualification for the performance of its
! duties And in obedience to a custom coeval with
our Government, and what believe to be your ex-
fspscfatons, proceed to present to you summary
Of the principles which will govern me in the dis
charge of the duties which shall be called upon to
perform.
1t was the remark of Roman Consul, in an
early period of that celebrated Republic, that a
most striking contrast was observable IN the con-
duct OF candidates for offices of power and trust,
before and after obtaining them-they seldom car
rying out, in the latter case, the pledges and pro-
misses made in the former. However much the
world may have improved, in many respects In
the lapse Of upwards of two thousand years since
| the remark was made by the virtuous and indig-
nant Roman, fear that strict examination OF the
annals of some of the modern elective governments
would develope similar instances of violated conf
dence.
Although the fiat of the People has gone forth,
proclaimng me the Chief Magistrate OF this glori-
Gus Union nothing upon their part remaining to
be done, it may be thought that motive may exist
| to keep up the deluson under which they may be
supposed to have acted in relation to my principles
and opinions and perhaps there may be some in
this assembly who have come here either prepared
to condemn those shall now deliver, or approving
| them, to doubt the sincerity with which they are
| uttered. But the lapse OF few months VIII con-
firm dispe their fears. The outline OF prlncl-
pies to govern, and measures to be adopted, by
Administration not yet begun, will soon be exchan-
ged for immutabIe history, and shall stand, either
exonerated by my countrymen, or cassed with the
mass Of those who promised that they might de-
ceive and fattered with the intention to betray.
However strong may be my present purpose to re-
aliZe the expectations of a magnanlmous and conll-
ding People, l too well understand the dangerous
temptations to which | shall be exposed, from the
magnitude of the power which it has been the plea
sure of the People to commit to my hands, not to
place my chief confidence upon the AID OF that AL
mighty power which has hitherto protected me,
and enabled me to bring to favorable issues other
important but still greatly inferior trusts hereto
iora confded to me by my country.
i The broad foundation upon which our Constltu-
lion rests being the Peopc-a breath OF theirs hav-
ing made, as breath can unrnake, change, or mo-
dify tit can be assigned OF the great di
visions of Government, but to that OF Democracy.
If such is its theory, those who are cal ed upon to
administer it must recognize It's leading prlnci-
ple tic duty of shaping their measures so as to
produce the greatest good to the greatest number.
But, with these broad admissions, If we would
compare the sovereignty acknowledged to exist in
the of our People, with the power claimed by
other sovereignties, by those which have been
considered purely democratic, we shall find most
essential difference. All others lay claim opower
limited only by their own will. The majority OF
citizens, on the contrary, possess sovereignty
with amount of power precisely equal to that
which has been granted to them by the parties to
the national compact, and nothing beyond. We
ii tof,n ,onfE Inv rIDDf
ing that, so far as power is concerned the Beneh-
cent Creator has made no distinction amongst men,
that all are upon equality, and that the only le-
eitimate right te govern is an express grant OF pow
er from the governed. The Constitution OF the
United States is the instrument containing this
grant Of power to the several departments compo-
sing the Government. On an examination OF that
Instrument it will be found to contain declarations
of power granted and of power withheld. The
latter is also susceptible of division into power
which the majority had the right to grant, but
which they did not think proper to inrust to their
agents. and that which they could not have gram
ted not being possessed by themselves. In other
words, there are certain rights possessed by each
individual American citizen, which, In has compact
with the others, he has never surrendered. Some
of them, indeed, he is unable to surrender being IN
the language of our system unallcnable The
boosted privilege of a Roman citizen was to him
a shield only against petty provincial ruler,
whilst the proud democrat OF Athens could con-
sole himself under sentence OF death, Tor a sup
posed violation of the national faith, which no one
understood, and which at times was the subject OF
the mochery OF all or the banshment from his nome,
his family and his country, with or without an al
ed cause that it was the act, not OF single ty-
rant hated aristocracy, but of his assembled
countrymen. Far different is the power OF our
Il >,as~ faith
prescribe forms of worship for ones observance,
infct no punishment but after well ascertained
quit the result of investigation under rules pre-
scribed by the Constitution itself. hese precious
privileges and those scarcely less important, OF
giving expression to his thoughts and opinions,
either by writing speaking, unrestralned but by
the liability for injury to others, and that OF full
participation in all the advantages which flow from
the Government, the acknowledged property of all,
the American citizen derives from a charter gram
ted by his fellow-nan. He claims them because
he is himself man, fashioned by the same AL
mighty hand the rest of his Species and entitled
TO full share Of blessings with which he has en-
dowed them. Notwithstanding the limited sove-
reignty possessed by the People of the United
States. and the restricted grant of power to the
government which they have adopted, enough has
been given to accomplish all the objects for which
it was created 1t has been found powerful in war,
and hitherto, justice has been administered, in
innate union effected, domestic tranquility preser
we'd, and personal liberty secured to the citizen
As was to be expected, however, from the defect
of language, and the necessarily sententious man:
ner in which the Constitution is written, disputes
have arisen as to the amount of power which it has
actually granted or was intended to grant,
This is particularly the case in relation to
that part Of the instrument which treats of the le-
gislative branch. And not only regards the
exercise of powers claimed under general clause,