St. Charles Republican intelligencer. (St. Charles [Charles City], Iowa) 1856-1857, 1856-12-18

Meanwhile, negotiations have been
instituted by means of special COM
mission, to obtain from New Grenada
full indemnity for injuries sustained
by our citizens on the Isthmus, and
satisfactory security for the general
interests Of The United States.
In addressing to you my last annual
message, the occasion seems to me
an appropriate one to express my con-
gratulations in view of the peace great
ness, and felicity which the United
States now possess and enjoy. To
point you to the state of the various
departments of the government, and
of all the great branches of the public
service, civil and military, in order to
speak Of the intelligence and the in
tegrity which pervades the whole,
would be to indicate but imperfectly
the administrative condition of the
country, and the beneficial effects of
that on the general welfare.
Nor would it suffice to say that the
nation is actually at peace at home
and abroad; that its industrial inter-
ests are prosperous that the canvas
of it's mariners whitens every sea and
the plough of it's husbandmen is march
ing steadily onward to the bloodless
conquest of the continent; that cities
and populous States are springing up,
as if by enchantment, from the bosom
of our western wilds, and that the
courageous energy of our people is
making of these United States the
great republic of the world. These re.
suits have not been attained without
passing through trials and perils by
experience of which, and thus only,
nations can harden into manhood.
Our forefathers were trained to the
wisdom which conceived, and the cour.
age which achieved independence, by
the circumstances which surrounded
them, and they were thus made capa.
BILE of the creation of the republic. II
devolved on the next generation tc
consolidate the work Of the revolution
to deliver the country entirely from the
influence of conflicting TRANSATLANTIC
partialities or antipathies which attach
ed to our colonial and revolutionary
history, and to organize the practical
operation of the constitutional and lie
gal institutions of the Union.
To us, of this generation, remains
the not less noble task of maintaining
and extending the power of the United
States. We have, at length, reached
that stage of the national career, ir
which the dangers to be encountered
and the exertions to be made, are the
incidents, not of weakness, but o.
strength. In our foreign relations we
have to temper our power to the less
happy condition of other republics il
America, and to place ourselves in thu
calmness and conscious dignity ofrigh
by the side of the greatest and wealth
lest of the empires of Europe.
In our domestic relations we have
to guard against the shock of the dis
contents, the ambitions, the interests
and the exuberant, and therefore, some
times irregular impulses of opinion, o.
of action, which are the natural pro
duct of the present political elevation
the selfreliance and the restless spiri
of enterprise of the people Of the Uni
} ted States.
l shall prepare to surrender the Ex
ecutive trust to my successor, and re
tire to private life with sentiments o
profound gratitude to the good Prov
, dence which, during my administra
ton, has vouchsafed to carry the coun
/ try through many difficulties, domesti
! and foreign, and to enable me to cor
: template the spectacle of amicable ant
, respectful relations between ours an
all other governments, and the estat
: lishment of constitutional order an
tranquility throughout the Union.
, FRANKLIN PIERCE.
WASHINGTON, Dec. 2, 1856.