The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1856-12-04
it is impossible for the Government of the United

it is impossible for the Government of the United
| States to be Indifferent.
| have deemed the danger of the recurrence of
scenes of lawless violence in this quarter so i'm
minent, as to make it my duty to station part
| of our naval force in the harbors of Panama and
| Aspinwall, in order to protect the persons and
property of the citizens of the United States in
| those ports, and to insure to them safe passage
| across the Isthmus. And it would, in my judg-
ment, be unwise to withdraw the naval force
now in those ports, until, by the spontaneous ac-
| ton of the Republic of New Granada, other
wise, some adequate arrangement shall have been
made Tor the protection and security of a line
of inter-oceanic communication so important at
this time, not to the United States only, but to
all other maritime States, both of Europe and
America.
Meanwhile negotiations have been instituted
by means of a special commission to obtain
from New Granada 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 appropriate one to
express my congratulations in view of the peace,
greatness, and felicity which the United States
now possess and enjoy. To point you to the
| state of the various departments of the Govern
ment, and of all the great branches of the public
service, civil and military, in order to speak of
the intelligence and the integrity 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 well
fare. Nor would it suffice to say, that the nation
is actually at peace at home and abroad that
its industrial interests prosperous that the
canvass of its mariners whitens every sea, and the
plough of its husbandmen is marching steadily
onward to the bloodless conquest of the CONT
nent; that cities and populous States are spring.
ing up, 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
results have not been attained without pass
ing 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 courage which
achieved Independence, by the circumstances
which surrounded them, and they were thus made
| capable of the creation of the Republic. 1t de-
volved on the next generation to consolidate the
| work of the Revolution, to deliver the country
entirely from the influences of conflicting trans
atlantic partialities antpathies which attached
| to Colonial and Revolutionary history, and
to organize 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 national
power. We have, at length, reached that stage
| OF our couutrys career, In which the dangers TO
be encountered and the exertions to be made are
the incidents, not of weakness, but of strength.
| In foreign relations we have to attemper our
power to the less happy condition of other Re-
publics in America, and to place ourselves in the
calmness and conscious dignity of right by the
side of the greatest and wealthiest of the en-
pires of Europe. In domestic relations, we have
to guard against the shock of the discontents,
the ambitions, the interests, and the exuberant
and therefore sometimes irregular impulses OF
opinion, or of action which are the natural prod
uct of the present political elevation, the self
reliance and the restless spirit of enterprise OF
the people of the United 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 ad-
ministration has vouchsafed to carry the country
through many difficulties, domestic and foreign,
and which enables me to contemplate the spec
tacle of amcable and respectful relations between
ours and all other Governments, and the estab-
lshment of constitutional order and tranquility
| throughout the Union.
FRANKLIN PIERCE.
WASHINGTON, December 2, 1856.