The daily republic. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1853-1853, 1853-07-16

speech Of President Pierce at N. York.
In reply to the addrcss Of welcome delivered At
Castle Garden ON Thursday, the PREsEnkxr said:
81 thank you for the kind and patriot 10 express
sions with which you have received mo- For the
first time address, within their own borders, the
citizens of the Empire City, now, beyond all
troversy, the commercial metropolis Of our blessed
Union. The rapdity, sir, with which New York
has arisen to SO commanding position as one of
the most important cities upon the globe, has no
parallel in history. Already the enterprise of
your merchants, the genius of your ship-builders,
the daring spirit of your vast trading marine, are
beginning to make you first in the markets
of the world. Here, my countrymen-here
/ in New York-will the ledger of commerce keep
the accounts of the nations of the earth.
,''Near the spot on which we stand there are
striking points which mark the amazing rapidity
Of your growth Us city. On the opposite side
of Bowling Green, if am not mistaken, stands
one of the comparatively few edifces erected
prior to ITO. is, believe, the only one remain
ing originally built Of German brick. It is a re-
verend relic of past age. How surprised, posi-
bly,, the young men of the present day would
be if they fully to realize that six years after
it's erection the waters Of the North river flowed
almost to its foundations; and that, far north Of
where three great parallel streets now TEEN with
activity and enterprise, was the landing of boats
upon that then free and uncircumscribed river.
How difficult it is at this period, to realize that the
limits of the city at that date extended not beyond
Murray street, and that there were even within
that boundary many vacant lots, and that the
population hardly exceeded twenty thousand.
Shall we speak Of the future? How can we, when
revert to the calculations of really wise men of
the past, who, if am not misinformed, built the
north wall of the City Hall of brick BECAUSE as it
no cd lo1
the exterior aspect that side was Of slight
sequence. fT
Show far it is at this moment south of the
centre of population, wealth, and enterprise
In 1896 your city hardly exceeded 900; now
you number more than half a million of souls. In
that year remember to have heard my father, on
his return from New York, after his first visit
here, subsequent to the close of the Revolution,
express his amazement at the growth and the
change of the city. Still, at that time, Brook
lyn, which now numbers more than one hundred
thousand souls, was comparatively village, and
riding on horseback with old General Moreton,
he found standing a portion Of the building on
Brooklyn Heights on which he had run up the
American ensign upon the evacuation of the city
in 1883. ss.s
ssFrom the first date have named, ITO, to
this hour, the history of the city has been the his
tory Of patriotic devotion to popular rights and
popular liberty That for a time during the rev
foated here is no cause Of modification; it was
the fortune of war; and, in our weak and embar-
raised condition, unavoidable. But the sun of the
25th November, 1888, rose here for the last time
upon the rule Of foreign power. and the ami
versary of that day is remembered by your SONS
of liberty with the patriotic feeling that the
great national anniversary of July 4th is regarded
by the people Of our common country How are
you, men of New York, to show your gratitude
for the past' How are you to make the most of
the present. How are you to secure all the noble
promise of your future!
''You will keep high your standard of intclli-
gence and morals, because all apparent advance
ment will prove fallacous, and weakness will be
substituted for strength whenever, as a people,
we cease, with reverence and humble dependence,
to look to the Source of all power and wisdom
You will educate your children in the belief and
conviction that you have neither power nor per-
severance, nor security, nor liberty, except as
you constitute of the members of this vast and
now universally respected contederacy You will
foster everywhere the living action, efficient sem
tment, that under the Providence Of God these
great blessings may only be enjoyed under the
present Constitution. You remember yourselves,
and remind others that wise men framed that
Constitution. Men who knew what independence
cost, because in their own suffering and in the
privatons and trials Of their families and friends
they had paid part of that expense.
3 "Thc great problem of the formation of the Union
called not only for all the wisdom, but for all the
patriotic conception Of the wisest body of mon the
world had eyer yet seen in council, If there are
those at the present day who, having never made
for their country the sacrifice you have Of ease,
dollar Of income, or one moment of personal dam
ger, would break up the foundation on which we
have SO prosperousy and securely stood, the basis
of our happiness at home and our respect abroad
the only sure pledge Of all that we expect for |
those who are to come after us, il is to be hoped
that thew are few In number. and their snhere ofl
influence limited.j If there are provisions in the
Constitution of your country not consistent with
your views of principle or expediency, remember,
that in the nature of things, that instrument could
only have had its origin in compromise; and re-
member, too that you will be fathless to honor and
eges it confers, and seek to avoid if any, the bur-
dens it imposes. @
sit cannot be accepted in parts; it is whole
or nothing; and a whole, with all the rights it
and the duties it requires it is to be sa-
credly maintained / accept these honors, as
your servant, with thankful heart; but bear
with me, ut the same time, a proud consciousness
that by your free and uIsought choice am also
your representative charged with the care Of your
interests and your honor, hope to be encouraged
and strengthened in all my efforts to promote the
one, and preserve unsullied the other, by such
countenance and support on your part as a fear
less and faithful exercise Of the functions commit
ted to me may merit.
"Mr. Mayor, this Empire City md this Empire
State are the living exemplifcations of the tails
manic word adopted as your motto. Has it never
occurred to you, sir, that the hand which has in |
scribed Excelsior upon your coat of arms must |
have been guided by prophets vision? This |
spectacle teaches all of us valuable and signif-
cant lesson, May God, in His wisdom, make you
sensible of the blessings conferred UPON you, and |
during my term Of office may He strengthen me
30, v,,r, Il