Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1869-03-26
20 1T a l..
Presidont Johnson's Valedictory.
f~re'oeO address Of the Retiring President
to the Isople ofMe Unitel States.
RavIAw or THE CLOSING ADMINISTRATION.
The Policy Of the Past, &c.


sion, this day falls from my shoulders, to be
immediately assumed by my successor. For
him tho forbearance and cooperation of the
American people, in all his efforts to admins
ser the govcrnp mt within the pale of the
Federal Constitution, are sincerely invoked.
without ambition to crafty, party ends to
suoserve, or personal q%uarrels to avenge at
tho sacrifice of the peace and welfare of the
country, my earnest desire is to see the Con
atitution as defined and limited by the faith.
srs OF tho republic, again recognized and
sbeyed as the supreme law Of the land, and
sAo whole people-North, South, East and
Hest-prosperous und happy under its wise
provisions.
In surrcndering the high Office to Which I
was called four years ago, ut a memorable and
terrible crisis, it is my privilege, l trust, to
say to the people of the United States a few
parting words, in vindication of an official
course so ccaselessly assailcd and aspersed by
political leaders, to whose plans aud wishes
my policy to restore the Union has been Oh.
noxious. In q period of difficulty and tur
rholh almost without precedent in the history
Of any people, consequent upon the closing
scenes of a great rebellion aud the assassina-
ton Of the then President, it was perhaps too
much, on my part, to expect of devoted parti.
sans, who rode OH the waves of excitement
which at that time swept all before them, that
degree of liberation and magunnimity which
! sought to recommend and enforce, and which
l believe in good timo would have advanced
ss infinitely farther on the road to permanent
peace and prosperity than we have thus far
attained. Doubtless, had I, at the commence
ment Of my term of office, unhesitatingly lent
its powers or perverted them to purposes and
plans outside the Constitution" and become
On instrument to schemes of confscation and
Of general and oppressive disqnaliications, I
would have been hailed as all that was true,
loyal and discerning : as the reliable head of
q party, whatever I might have been as the
of the nation. Unwilling, howcv.
er to acccde to propositions Of extremists, and
bound to adhere, at every hazard to my oath
to defend the Constitution, | need not. per.
haps, be surprised at having met the fate of
Others whose only reward for upholdins CON
right and law have been the con
of having attempted to do their du.
ty, and the calm and unprojudiccd Judgment
IF history.
AT the time a mysterious Providence Az. 4
signed to me the osice of President, / was by
che terms of the Constitution, the Command.
er-ln-C Chief of nearly a million of men uuder s
One of my first acts was to disband i
Ind restore to the vooations of civil life this t
immense host, and to divest myself, 80 far as {
could, OF tho unparalleled powers then moi c
lent to the Office and the times. Whether J
not, in this step, 1 was right, and how far t
the appreciation of the people, all a
IAN now, on reflection, judge, when reminded c
the ruinous condition of public affairs, that !
aust have resulted from the continuance in h
he military service Of such a vast number of "
len. t
The close of our domestic conflict found le
10 amy eager to distinguish itself in a new .
cid, by: an. effort to punish European inter Al
ention in Mexico By many it was believed al
~ u'Soo1 ehaV dSluo iIOm tilo SSSul0CQ 1uS
90 of the proceeding, a foreign war, in which re
9TH sides would cheerfully unite to yindicate SO
10 honor Of the National Flag, and further b.
the National prowess, would be the Oh
rest and specdiost way of awakening Ma 70
onal enthusiasm, reviving devotion to the OF
'nioa, and occupy a force concerning which, .
doubts existed as to its Willingness, af. 70
r four years Of active campaigning, at once =
return to the active pursuits Of peace. - r.
neither these speculations were true CT =.
it will DO conceded that they existed, -
d that the predilcctions Of tho army were, u,
I the time being, In tho direction indicated. H.
king advantage Of this feeling, it would IL
We been easy, as tho Commander in. Chief ~,
the army and navy, and with all tho power ~,
a patronage of tho Presidential Office at my =.
sposal, to turn tho concentrated military *
tongth Of the Nation against French inter. r,
Mexico, and to inaugurate a move. IN
emit which would have bsea received with az
7or by the military and a large portion Of "a
. people. do
i Z proper in this connection, that 7 should to