The Athens post. [volume] (Athens, Tenn.) 1848-1917, 1856-12-12

to all other maritime States Of Europe and
America
Meanwhile, negotiations have been institu-
ted oy means Of q special commission, TO OBJ
tam from New Grenada full indemnity for
injuries sustained by our citizens on the 18TH
mus, and satisfactory security for the general
Interests of the u. States.
In addressing you my last annual message,
the occasion seems to me an appropriate one
to express my congratulations in view of the
peace, greatness, and felicity which the Uni
ted States now possess and enjoy. To point
you to the state of the various departments
oil the government, and Of all the branches
oil the public service, civil and military in
order to speak of the intelligence and the in.
tegrisy which pervades the whole, would be
to indicate but imperfectly the administra-
tive condition of the country, and the benef-
clal effects of that on the general welfare
Nor would it suffice to say that the nation is
actually at peace at home ana abroad; that
its industrial interests are prosperous; that
the canvass Of its mariners whitehs every
sea; and the plough Of its husbandmen is
marching steadily onward to the bloodless
conquest Of the continent; that cities and
populous States are springing up "a il by en-.
chautment, 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 results
have not been attained without our passing
through trials and perils, by an experience of
which, and thus only, nations can harden into
manhood. Our forefathers were trained to
the wisdom which conceived, and the courage
which achieved independence, by the cir.
cumstances which surrounded them, and they
were thus made capable Of the creation of the
republic. 1t devolved on the next genera.
ton to consolidate the work of the revolu.
ton, to deliver the country entirely from the
influences of conflicting transatlantic parti-
alities or antipathies, which attached to our
colonial and revolutionary history, and to or
ganize the practical operation Of the consti.
tutional and legal institutions of the Union.
To us, of this generation, remains the not less
noble task OF maintaining and extending the
power Of the U. States. We have at length,
reached that stage of the national career, in
which the dangers to be encountered and the
exertions to be made, are the incidents, not
of weakness, but Of strength. In our foreign
relations we have to attemper our power to
the less happy condition of otherrepublics in
America, and to place ourselves in the calm.
ness and conscious dignity of right by the
side of the greatest and wealthiest Of the
empires of Europe. In our domestic rela.
tiors, We have to guard against the shock of
the dscontents, the ambitions, the interests,
and the exuberant, and, therefore, sometimes
irregular impulses of opinion, or of action,
which are the natural product of the present
political elevation, the self-reliance and the
restless spirit Of enterprise of the people of
the U. States.
shall prepare to surrender the Executive
trust to my successor, and retire to private
life with sentiments of profound gratitude to
the good Providence which, during the period |
of my administration, has vouchsafed to car.
ny the country through many difficulties, do
nestle and foreign, and to enable me to con. /
template the spectacle of amicable and re-
spectful relations between ours and all other |
and the establishment of con.
stitutional order and tranquility throughout
the Union. FRANKLIN PIERCE.
WASHINGTON, Dec. 2, 1856.