The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1853-03-09

relations OF peace and amity with all ma
lions. Purposes, therefore, at once just
and pacific, will be significantly marked
in the conduct Of our foreign affairs. l
intend that my administration shall leave
no blot upon our fair record, and trust
l may safely give the assurance that no
act within the legitimate scope of my
constitutional control will be tolerated
on the part ofany portion of our citizens,
which cannot challenge a ready justifica-
ton before the tribunal of the civilized
world. An administration would be un-
worthy of confidence at home, or respect
abroad, should it cease to be influenced
by the conviction, that no apparent ad-
vantage can be purchased at a price so
dear as that of national wrong or dishonor.
1t is not your privilege, as a nation,
to speak of a distant past. The striking
incidents of your history, repletc with
instruction, and furnishing abundant
grounds for hopeful confidence, arc COM
priscd 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 limitlcss 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 tran.
guilty and interests of the res. of man
Kind. With the neighboring nations up.
on our continent, we should cultivate
kindly and fraternal rotations. 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 com.
plicatcd European systems of national
polity we have heretofore been indepcn-
dent. From their wars, their tumults
and anxieties, we have been, happily, al
most entirely exempt. Whilst these are
confined to the nations which gave them
existence, and within their legitimate ju.
risdictioD, they cannot affect us, except
as they appeal to our %sympathics 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 inter
national 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, re.
: quire prompt reciprocity. The rights
which belong to us as a nation, are moi
, alone to DO regarded, but those which
pertain to every citizen in his individual
capacity, at home and abroad, must be
sacrcdly maintained. So long as he car
discern every star in its place upon that
ensign, without wealth to purchase fol
him preferment, or title to secure fol
him place, it will be his privilege, and
must be his acknowledged right, tc
/, stand unabashed even in the presence Of
princes, with a proud consciousness that
, he is himself one of a nation of sover
eigns, and that he cannot, in a legitimate
pursuit, wander so far from home, that
the agent, whom he shall leave behind
in the place which I now occupy, viii
not see that no rude hand of power OF
, tyrannical passion is laid upon him witt
IMMUNITY. He must realize, that upon
| every sea, and on every soil, where oul
enterprise may rightfully seek the pro
lection of our flag, American citizenship
: is an inviolable panoply for the security
Of American rights. And in this con
%nexion, it can hardly be necessary to re
, afir m a principle which should now b,
t regarded as fundamental. The rights
, security, and repose of this Confederacy
/ reject the idea Of interference or coloni
, %zation, on this side of the ocean, by any
e foreign power, beyond its present jurisdic
| ton, as utterly ina6missible.
The opportunities of observation, furn
ished by my brief experience as a sold
y Ter, confirmed in my own mind the opin
|. ion, entertained and acted upon by 9th
? crs from the formation of the govern
f ment, that the maintenance of larg,
0 standing armies in our country would b,
not only dangerous, but unnecessary
| They also illustrated the importance,
might well say the absolute necessity, o
| the military science and practical skill
furnished, in such an eminent degree, b,
the institution, which has made your ar
n my what it is, under the discipline an,
}. instruction of officers not more distin
2 guished for their solid attainments, gal
5 lantry, and devotion to the public ser
n vice, than for unobtrusive bearing an,
high moral tone. The army, as organ
h lied, must be the nucleus, around which
o in every time of need, the strength q
your military power, the sure bulwarl
c of your Defence national militia
may be readily formed into a we'll disc
y plined and efficient organization.-An
the skill and self-dcvotion of the nav
assure you that you may take the pei
Torrance of the past as a pledge for til
a future, and may confidently expect tina
e the flag, which has waved its untarnishe
folds over every sea, will still float i
undiminished honor, But these, lik
l. many other subjects, will be appropr
ately brought, at a future time, to tn
A. attention of the coordinate branches I,
the government, to which | shall Away
IS look with profound respect, and wit
ct ~trustful confidence that they will accor
to me the aid and support, which l sha
e, SO much need, and which their exper
ID ence and wisdom will readily suggest.
le In the administration of domestic a